New York’s tech industry has been growing rapidly over the past decade. The city has seen a 71 percent increase in employment in tech jobs since 2004. Having a booming tech industry can be immensely beneficial for our city. New York has been quite dependent on the financial sector in the past, something like the economic recession of 2008 could be disastrous. The tech industry is always cooking up new things. With a constant stream of technological advancement, it becomes possible for technology to become an integral part of various other industries. One of the greatly important aspects of the tech industry here in New York is its potential for giving citizens power to inform themselves at the touch of a button about anything regarding their daily life. With technology like this transparency in all things can be commonplace and not something we have to fight for. The ability for tenants to record unacceptable housing conditions or for workers to report unsafe work conditions and know what to do with the information they have gathered would go a long way in giving the average citizen in a city of 11 million a voice. The tech industry is a hub for innovation and ideas. Failure is not seen as a bad thing. Workers in this industry have a large range of options in what they can do. Innovation is one of the thing our city needs to continue to be one the greatest cities in the world.
Although, there are many benefits to the tech industry taking root in NYC there are also some possible downsides. In the article published in The New York Times, it is explained what is happening in San Francisco now that the tech industry has practically taken over. Rents become too high, tenants are evicted, working class people can no longer afford to live in the city that they work in. There was also a controversy wit one tech company founder complaining of the homeless and “riffraff” that he was “forced” to see on his way to work. This is a tech industry that has gotten to big and is strong arming the very people that have allowed it to take place out of their homes. This is part of the reason that I believe civiv tech is rather important to our city. It can be a bridge between the industry and people. Also if the people can use civic tech to build a case against a bad landlord or boss, they can surely use it to protect themselves from displacement.
Excellent analysis, Natalia. This shows you have read the assignment and thought about what can happen from the conditions that are described.