Two Weeks In: Greetings from NYC’s New Chief Digital Officer
By Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer, City of New York
Hello from the NYC Mayor’s Office of Digital Strategy, which was formed earlier this year to work on strategy for public-facing digital and technology projects and to be a liaison to NYC’s technology community, including the world of startups.
I was delighted to join Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration as Chief Digital Officer, succeeding Jessica Singleton (whose goodbye note is here). Now that I’m two weeks into the gig, I thought I’d share something about the journey so far, told mainly through my tweets at @sree.
Looking forward to your thoughts and suggestions, via Twitter or via email: ssreenivasan@cityhall.nyc.gov.
MY MANDATE: When my appointment was announced in August, @NYCMayor tweeted, “Welcome, @sree, as NYC’s new CDO! And onward to becoming the most tech-friendly, transparent, digitally equitable city in the world.” And my immediate boss, Alicia Glen, Deputy Mayor for Housing & Economic Development, (@DMAliciaGlen) tweeted, “We are going to make NYC the best place in the world for tech and innovation.”
I would love to hear your thoughts on how we can make this happen. This is going to be a team effort, of course, building on the work of all the City agencies as well as working with nonprofits and companies big and small.
MY MODS COLLEAGUES: The Mayor’s Office of Digital Strategy has two other employees, who have been working with colleagues throughout the administration.
- Rebecca Tinkelman (@tinkelwoman), Director of Digital Strategy
- Maria (Masha) Gindler (@mashagindler), Deputy Director of Digital Strategy
They have already taught me so much. Follow them on Twitter!
MY FACEBOOK LIVE SESSIONS: As part of my orientation, I am meeting head of various agencies and other staff throughout the city. After a short meet-n-greet with these folks, I am putting the rest of our conversation online as an interview via FB Live. This is a chance for me to learn more about the work of these agencies and for the public to ask questions. Please keep an eye out for upcoming sessions. Everything is, of course, also archived.
- Commissioner Julie Menin, Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment @MadeInNY and @NYC_Media:
- Commissioner Nisha Agarwal, Mayor’s Officer of Immigrant Affairs @NYCImmigrants:
Two down, 300,000 city employees to go.
Not an interview, but you might be amused by my first walk across Brooklyn Bridge as a City employee.
MY LISTENING TOUR: Even though I am based out of City Hall, I am determined not to be the Chief Digital Officer of Lower Manhattan. I am doing as many meetings and meet-n-greets outside of the shadow of City Hall as possible. Our MODS team has an office in MetroTech Center, a big office and educational complex in Downtown Brooklyn, so I get to be there a couple of times a week. Below you will see that I’ve already had meetings in various parts of NYC, including DUMBO, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Harlem, Grand Central Terminal and more.
I am looking for excuses to meet folks interested in digital topics, startups, entrepreneurship and more across the city, so let me know if you have suggestions.
Looking forward to your thoughts and suggestions, via Twitter, @Sree or via email: ssreenivasan@cityhall.nyc.gov.
