New York City as a major center for Blacks in technology -- 2015

Last update: Sunday 5/8/16

The Big Apple has compelling competitive advantages with regards to its becoming the nation's most important center of information technology ==> a huge population, colossal wealth, local universities having high international reputations, and immense political power. 


Given these advantages, it's surprising that the nation's tech leadership has actually been centered thousands of miles westward on the other side of the continent in Silicon Valley for the last fifty years. Indeed it's all the more surprising that New York City did not assume early international leadership in revolutionary applications of information technology in finance, fashion, and entertainment -- its three most important industries.

But, the good news -- for an ex-New Yorker born and bred in the South Bronx like me -- is that the Knickerbocker giant has finally awakened. The better news -- for a Black ex-New Yorker like me -- is that New York's various Black communities have a conscious awareness of the tremendous advantages to be gained by their becoming active participants in the development of vigorous tech sectors in Gotham. And the best news is that the leadership clearly recognizes the advantages to be derived from leveraging New York's historic Black eminence in entertainment, most recently in Hip Hop, to future Black eminence in tech.

Below find links to Storyfies of some #DiversityInTech events in New York City by the DLL and others during the last 18 months:

Events in 2015 ...

• Education/hackathon -- DLL Storify of BLUE1647 24-Hour Hackathon and Youth Tech Challenge in Brooklyn NY -- Saturday 12/12/15 & Sunday 12/13/15
• Civic/education meetup -- DLL Storify of CODE/BRONX: HOW TO START YOUR SCHOOL’S CODING PROGRAM -- Tuesday, 12/8/15
• Civic/education meetup -- DLL Storify of the Bronx Tech Meetup -- Thursday 12/3/15
• Education/workshop -- DLL Storify of Black Girls Code, NYC, Robot Expo! -- Saturday 11/14/14
• Entrepreneur/tech conference -- DLL Storify of The Phat Startup Conference, Tech808, New York City -- Monday 11/9/15
• Civic/education meetup -- DLL Storify of Bronx Tech Meetup -- Thursday 9/24/15
• Entrepreneur Meetup -- DLL Storify of @HBANY's Disrupt Harlem 2015 
  -- Tuesday 9/22/15
• Education Hackathon -- DLL Storify of @BlackGirlsCode #Hackathon, Brooklyn -- Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 ... Friday 7/24/15 to Sunday 7/26/15
• "Civic/Education Hackathon" -- CODE2040 Storify of Hack2040, New York ... "Changing the face of technology in the next 25 years" -- 6/5 to 6/7
• Education Hackathon -- DLL Storify of C/I Hackathon at Fordham Foundry -- Saturday 5/30/15
   
• Civic Meetup ... DLL Storify of Bronx Tech Meetup -- Monday 5/18/15
   
• Civic Hackathon -- DLL Storify of #HackHarlem -- Saturday 3/21/15
   
• Civic town hall meeting -- DLL Storify of Silicon Harlem's 2nd Anniversary Celebration -- Wednesday 2/25/15 

Events in 2014 ...

• Entrepreneur/tech conference -- DLL Storify of Silicon Harlem's 2014 Technology Conference ... Plus Post-Conference Acknowledgements (Thursday 10/16/14)
   
• Entrepreneur/tech Twitter chat -- DLL Storify of Harlem Business Innovation Summit -- Tuesday 9/23/14
   
• Education hackathon -- Black Girls Code (Brooklyn NY, Oakland CA)
  ... June 2014 ... Storifys for Day #1 and Day #2

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Related notes on this blog:

• Major Centers for Blacks in Technology ... February 2016

  
  

The articles linked to the following tweets on 5/1/16 are worth noting:

1. NYTimes Bits ‏@nytimesbits NYC, trailing Silicon Valley in creating the Next Big Tech Thing, is aiming to change that: http://nyti.ms/26LGJot  ... DLL Editor's note -- This story also covered by Fast Company