New York unveils first city-wide IoT strategy

New York City has unveiled its first-ever Internet of Things Strategy, setting out a vision for embedding technology to fulfil the ambition of being a productive, responsible and fair city.

The strategy lays the groundwork for the planning, deployment and governance of IoT tech in New York, with goals that include:

• Foster innovation by creating structures and programmes that support research, testing, and experimentation with IoT technologies

• Promote data sharing and transparency around City IoT use by engaging and informing residents about IoT initiatives, and aggregating information and data from the City’s work to make them available across agencies and for the public, where appropriate

• Improve governance and coordination of the City’s use of connected technologies through new policies and processes

• Derive value from cross-sector partnerships by supporting and pursuing new opportunities for collaboration

• Engage with industry and advocate for communities by creating new channels for exchange and advocating for digital rights 

“The 2020s will be a critical decade for the billions of internet-connected devices commonly known as the Internet of Things,” said New York City Chief Technology Officer John Paul Farmer. “In this decade, society is poised to unlock these and countless other benefits from IoT. It is in this decade, too, that the rules of the road will be set, which is why now is the right time for us to face hard questions about the data economy, data poverty, digital rights, and potential deleterious uses of IoT. This strategy provides a critical blueprint for how New York City can lead the way in striking the right balance for smart use of IoT.”

John Paul Farmer spoke at the GovX Digital Conference in November 2020 where he joined the panel on creating Smarter Fairer Cities - check out the key takeaways here or watch the full session here.