RachelHaot
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New York governor wants statewide 100Mbps internet by 2019
With a $1 billion plan, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo hopes to have every New Yorker hooked up to high-speed internet by 2019. The administration is billing it as the largest state investment in universal broadband in the country. Just how fast are we talking, here? In most cases, the program calls for providers to offer at least 100 Mbps, or as Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot described it at a press conference, "more than 10 times the federal definition of 'broadband.'"
The Engadget Show 46: Expand NY with LeVar Burton, Reggie Watts, Rachel Haot and more!
It's true, we're still beaming - which is saying a lot for a Monday morning coming off of little to no sleep. And while we'd have been slightly grumpy working through the weekend in nearly any other scenario, we just spent three days with 10,000 or so friends, colleagues and tech superstars, so we can't really complain too much. It's tough to pick a favorite moment from the inaugural Engadget Expand New York. Maybe it was watching LeVar Burton engage in a discussion with Timothy Jordan from the Google Glass team. It may well have been seeing Reggie Watts talk wearables with Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky or witnessing Spike Lee get scanned with 3D Systems' new Sense handheld. Granted, we've only done this twice, but we think we can safely say that something magical happens when you put a lot of smart, creative types in a room for a couple of days. Between the giant robotic leg, Raspberry Pi competition, 3D printers, Occulus Rifts and two days packed with all-star panels, it was heck of a weekend. We realize not everyone could join us, of course, so hopefully this latest episode of The Engadget Show will serve as some consolation. At the very least, you'll get to see a robotic snake and at least one editor riding around on an electric skateboard. Surely that's worth at least 11 minutes of your time. Oh, and stay tuned tomorrow, for yet another episode of the show from the floor of Expand!
NYC Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot on providing digital access to all
"The foundation of New York City's digital strategy is access," explains Rachel Haot, fresh off her Expand press day opening remarks. "We define that as access for all New Yorkers, regardless of income level, regardless of the resources you may have in your household. Libraries play a very vital role in this; schools do as well, [along with] recreation centers run by the city's parks department -- and we've even invested in senior centers, where we are connecting more seniors with the internet and providing training." Haot's served as New York's chief digital offers for three years or so, tasked with the seemingly overwhelming goal of making technology available to the citizens of the largest city in the country. The question of income gaps plays a key role in the city's continued push to bring high-tech jobs to New York as the cost of living threatens to push out potential startups. Haot counters that the city continues to offer affordable spaces in the five boroughs. She also offers up a list of perks the Big Apple provides over those areas we've come to know as tech hubs. "New York City is a completely unique destination that presents completely unique opportunities for any entrepreneur," she adds. "One of the reasons we hear people come here is, first and foremost, diversity. You look at a lot of other tech hubs and it's a one-horse town. It ends up being an echo chamber, or a bit of a bubble. In New York City, you're always kept humble, because there are so many industries, and they're always intersecting. I think that provides and enables enormous creativity and collaboration."
New York City Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot says we're in a 'golden age of technology in NYC'
New York City's first Chief Digital Officer, Rachel Haot, is a very busy lady. She's charged with managing the digital universe of one of the planet's most technologically advanced cities. Haot's most recent accomplishment was heading up the relaunch of NYC.gov, the digital face of New York City. And during her keynote speech this afternoon at Engadget Expand, Haot opened the show with a powerful statement about the Big Apple's tech sector: "Today more than any other time, we really are experiencing a golden age of technology in NYC." In Haot's eyes, this "golden age" is being spearheaded by several factors. First, 3D printing. "New York City is arguably the 3D-printing capital of the world," she noted, with reference to MakerBot, littleBits and more. It's a trend that's emblematic of NYC's transformative history, reinventing itself repeatedly across the past 400 years.
NYC's Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot on borough hopping with Google Maps and the Macintosh II
Every week, a new and interesting human being tackles our decidedly geeky take on the Proustian Q&A. This is the Engadget Questionnaire. This week's edition of our regular session on inquiry chats with the nation's first Chief Digital Officer, Rachel Haot. NYC's CDO discusses navigating the five boroughs with Google Maps and her filtered photo obsession. Head on past the jump for the full set of responses.
