Negocios Now

www.negociosnow.com Marzo 2017 19 NegociosNow NegociosNow By Tara García Mathewson A bout 76 percent of New York City households have a broadband internet subs- cription. That leaves out almost 30 million households, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2015 Ame- rican Community Survey. And this digital divide is what occupies much of Miguel Gamino's working hours. Gamino is the chief technology officer for the City of New York, tas- ked with, among other things, lea- ding the charge to get every resident and business access to affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband ser- vice by 2025. "The idea of broadband from the city's perspective is to make sure that everyone in New York has the same access to the opportunities on the other end of the internet con- nection," Gamino said. Now that most people walk around with phones in their poc- kets, the city is replacing its paypho- nes with 10,000 kiosks that have free, high-speed internet through the LinkNYC program. It is also expanding the city library's hots- pot program to lend Wi-Fi-enabled devices to residents, and Mayor Bill DeBlasio has been an outspoken advocate of net neutrality and com- petition in the telecommunications market to maintain affordable, open access for everyone. Gamino hasn't always worked in public service. He founded two IT companies as an entrepreneur in the private sector before becoming chief information and innovation officer for his hometown city of El Paso, Texas. He liked the work enough to accept a subsequent position in San Francisco before moving to New York for his current job, turning what was once going to be a temporary detour in his career into something more permanent. Working in government, Gami- no says, gives him an ability to do something he has long cared about – making a positive change through technology – but with even greater impact. San Francisco gave him a bigger stage than El Paso and an opportunity to start to approach really big problems with really big solutions. In New York City, the challenge is to accelerate that work on an even larger stage. "With a team around me and an administration that is very serious about using technology to bene- fit all types of people in New York, that's why I'm still in public service," Gamino said. "That is very meanin- gful to me, to feel like I'm able to make those contributions." Besides closing the digital divi- de, New York City's technology efforts have centered on improving responsiveness and efficiency by leveraging connected devices, tur- ning New York into a "smart city." This means smart indoor lighting in public buildings, wireless water meters, responsive traffic manage- ment that tracks data in real time, smart waste management, automa- tic water and air quality monito- ring, real-time gunshot detection, snowplow tracking and 24/7 service requests. Some of these improvements mean faster response times and better service, others create con- crete cost savings or more efficient use of the city's infrastructure and resources. Gamino says it's important to remember that cities have been smart for a long time and they have done a lot of things well. "Now it's a matter of using tech- nology to make cities even smarter," Gamino said. "Even more aware and responsive to the needs of its people." In his eyes, technology can give city officials the tools to listen better to what residents need and want and then create opportunities for them to make more-informed deci- sions about how to respond in an efficient and meaningful way. "And again, I can't emphasize enough, doing it in a way that is equitable to all people in all five boroughs, in all the neighborhoods of New York," Gamino said. Gamino is an evangelist for per- vasive connectivity. And in New York City, every day brings him a little closer to achieving his own and the city's very ambitious goals. NEW YORK CITY CTO MIGUEL GAMINO IS HELPING BRING BROADBAND TO EVERY NEW YORKER "N ow it's a matter of using technology to make cities even smarter," Gamino said. "Even more aware and responsive to the needs of its people." NEW YORK LATINOS IN TECHNOLOGY NegociosNow NegociosNow El Especial

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