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November 6, 2013 11:37 pm GMT
New Yorkers have just voted to conduct a grand experiment in whether innovation can help the least among them. Jolly Green Giant look-alike and newly minted Mayor-Elect, Bill De Blasio, has indicated that he will leverage the Big Apple’s government to promote financial inequality, diversity and inclusion, instead of cheerleading disruptive startups. In a not-so-subtle reference to outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s pro-business agenda, De Blasio said, “If we were to continue this status quo, some would do very very well, and others would be priced out or left out.” The tech sector is often criticized for favoring rich founders and apps to solve yuppie problems, rather than helping out the poor. I’ve written before that there is a fundamental philosophical difference between politicians who promote equality and those who want disruptive innovation. De Blasio’s administration won’t be an exception to that rule, but his willingness to embrace technology may finally prove that innovation can be used to help out the 99%. Participatory Budgeting and Transparency De Blasio is a big fan of direct democracy over the budget. So-called “Participatory Budgeting” lets all new yorkers vote directly on spending priorities at the polls, just like they do with a referendum. Participatory budgeting has the wonderful side-effect of allocating funds to marginalized communities; in Brazil the process led to a decrease in infant mortality rates, because, it turned out, poor mothers have a better idea of what is killing children than the government [PDF]. San Francisco will be the first major city in the U.S. to test out fully online participatory budgeting, and we expect its east coast counterpart will follow suit. In another example of using open government for equality, De Blasio has spearheaded a data transparency initiative to name andshame slumlords into abiding by their contracts. Sharing Economy’s Enemy De Blasio has not shown that he’ll be a fan of startups, such as Airbnb and Uber, which threaten unionized industries. When asked whether room-sharing startup Airbnb should be allowed to continue to operate in New York, De Blasio told an online forum on Reddit.com, “While I appreciate the potential of the sharing economy, and I do think there’s some historical precedent, the challenges posed by AirBnB today are real, in terms of safety, public tax revenue, etc.” That’s politician speak for ‘They’re going to get regulated and I’m siding with unions’. Uber too, may lose out. When asked about the
Original Link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Tdg3dGPxtUo/
De Blasio's NYC Will Be A Grand Experiment In Tech For Equality, But Startups Lose
New Yorkers have just voted to conduct a grand experiment in whether innovation can help the least among them. Jolly Green Giant look-alike and newly minted Mayor-Elect, Bill De Blasio, has indicated that he will leverage the Big Apple’s government to promote financial inequality, diversity and inclusion, instead of cheerleading disruptive startups. In a not-so-subtle reference to outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s pro-business agenda, De Blasio said, “If we were to continue this status quo, some would do very very well, and others would be priced out or left out.” The tech sector is often criticized for favoring rich founders and apps to solve yuppie problems, rather than helping out the poor. I’ve written before that there is a fundamental philosophical difference between politicians who promote equality and those who want disruptive innovation. De Blasio’s administration won’t be an exception to that rule, but his willingness to embrace technology may finally prove that innovation can be used to help out the 99%. Participatory Budgeting and Transparency De Blasio is a big fan of direct democracy over the budget. So-called “Participatory Budgeting” lets all new yorkers vote directly on spending priorities at the polls, just like they do with a referendum. Participatory budgeting has the wonderful side-effect of allocating funds to marginalized communities; in Brazil the process led to a decrease in infant mortality rates, because, it turned out, poor mothers have a better idea of what is killing children than the government [PDF]. San Francisco will be the first major city in the U.S. to test out fully online participatory budgeting, and we expect its east coast counterpart will follow suit. In another example of using open government for equality, De Blasio has spearheaded a data transparency initiative to name andshame slumlords into abiding by their contracts. Sharing Economy’s Enemy De Blasio has not shown that he’ll be a fan of startups, such as Airbnb and Uber, which threaten unionized industries. When asked whether room-sharing startup Airbnb should be allowed to continue to operate in New York, De Blasio told an online forum on Reddit.com, “While I appreciate the potential of the sharing economy, and I do think there’s some historical precedent, the challenges posed by AirBnB today are real, in terms of safety, public tax revenue, etc.” That’s politician speak for ‘They’re going to get regulated and I’m siding with unions’. Uber too, may lose out. When asked about theOriginal Link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Tdg3dGPxtUo/
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