Technological innovation is a very polarizing issue. While the tech boom is doing much good in many parts of the country such as Silicon Valley as well as New York, I believe that significant issues will emerge.
First, to discuss the positives. The startup industry has greatly improved New York’s economy. The city’s economy is no longer reliant on Wall Street, making it significantly less likely that the 2008 Recession will rear its ugly head. Calderone says, “It’s okay now to fail here and that’s a good thing”. Those who take risks are seen as experienced and others are encouraged to do the same, creating venture capital. The economy is more stable than in 2008 because it is more diverse. This does not necessarily mean that we are safe from another crash as there are several other factors to be considered. Additionally, the youth and educated are becoming extremely successful. Aside from computer manufacturing and a cluster including internet publishing, all other sectors of New York City’s tech industry is dominated by those under 35. This reliance on the new generation is promising as we are shown to be innovators. Many intelligent people have made out quite well from this recent boom as well as those that have been helped by apps such as Handup. The concept of CivicTech is very promising. With this outlook, the industry could create a platform where all people could express ideas and perhaps have a chance at greatness or at least receive help.
There are those who disagree with these statements. Looking at San Francisco as a case study, many people have been driven out of their homes due to extremely high rents. As more and more people move into a place of innovation, more and more people will be priced out. We have been discussing this at length over the last couple weeks. Another issue that I noticed is the lack of diversity within the innovation workforce. The vast majority of workers are white males. Why is it that only a specific group is participating in this huge movement? I am leaning towards the inherent racism and sexism still present in our society, especially in the fields of science and technology. There are also the ever present worries of jobs being replaced with machines and hackers (or the NSA) getting access to our private information. I agree with Lawrence Grodeska; it all comes down to intent. While I believe him to be naively optimistic about innovation in general, his point about technology being as helpful as we make it is accurate. Unfortunately, I doubt everyone will use it for good. Money is more important.
