Checking In With NYC’s First Chief Tech Officer

One year after Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed the city’s first-ever chief technology officer, New York is moving toward becoming one of the nation’s leading tech and innovation hubs.

Minerva Tantoco, who took on the inaugural job last October, says there are signs the region’s tech sector is growing.

“For the first time, this year the number of start-up funding requests have outpaced the number on the West Coast,” Tantoco told MetroFocus reporter Andrea Vasquez.

WATCH: Tantoco’s First Interview With MetroFocus

Tantoco says the de Blasio administration hopes to further develop the industry’s footprint here with its new initiative Computer Science For All. The program aims to give every public school student the skills they need for a future in technology.

“And so with the diversity of industries and the diversity of people, and giving them an opportunity to get the talent and skills they need and some on-the-job training, we’ll be able to fill the tech jobs that are going to be opening up,” Tantoco said.

Tantoco says her office is also working on programs to expand broadband access across the city and help New Yorkers use technology to find innovative solutions to community problems.