The mayor said it best, “Through the miracle of modern day communications, I’m joining you live 2 miles south from where you are.”  NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg was unable to join PDF live today, but he still took 10 minutes or so to chat with conference participants using NYC’s new Skype account.  Pretty cool – yet another example of how broadband is connecting us.

The mayor talked in great detail about how New York City is utilizing technology.  In fact, Mayor Bloomberg urged the audience to move to the city – citing the need for more taxpayers but also touting the fact that NYC has a longer life expectancy than the national average!

Mayor Bloomberg said that in years past, citizen participation in the democratic process meant going to city hall or joining a club.  And while you can still do that Bloomberg said, the Internet is making government more accountable and making it easier for people to get and send information.

He then got into the city’s 311 technology – which is available in over 70 languages.  He shared a story to highlight how 311NYC works.  While driving one day he saw some trash on a city street.  He called 311, reported the problem, and the city immediately sent someone to clean it up.  The mayor again had the audience in stitches when he said the operator asked who the caller was, he said, “Michael Bloomberg” and she asked how he spelled that.  Never let notoriety go to your head, the mayor said.

Mayor Bloomberg also highlighted other ways NYC311 is improving how the city does business, citing progress reports on schools and citywide performance measures, all through the use of technology.  The mayor shared a fundamental principle he uses in business, saying that better information shared faster means people do things better.  He is bringing that philosophy to city government.

The mayor shared 5 new “technology” initiatives that New York City is embarking on.  They include:

1.    Sykpe connection – NYC311 (the mayor used this to join #pdf2009 today)

2.    Twitter: @311NYC

3.    311 online, NYC.gov

4.    The city is partnering with Google to monitor traffic patterns on NYC.gov – so they can figure out what content and services people are really interested in.

5.    Bigapps – if you get the innovation bug, you might just win dinner with Mayor Bloomberg.  This is a contest to develop new applications that utilize technology to improve the quality of life in New York City.

For more information on how Mayor Bloomberg is utilizing broadband-enabled technologies to improve the quality of life in NYC, visit NYC.gov.

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