The Municipal Art Society of New York

Earlier this month, MAS hosted a provocative panel on bringing equitable WiFi to all New Yorkers. NYC’s Chief Digital Officer, Rachel Sterne, delivered an informative keynote about the city’s plans to offer more services online, as well as the recent advances in providing access to 311 reporting data online.

City Council member Gale Brewer talked briefly about the strides made by the Broadband Advisory Committee to promote open data access in government, as well as research on the viability of full free access across the five boroughs.

During the panel, Greg Goldman, who negotiated the muni-wireless system in Philadelphia, discussed the successes and failures of the system, while Dana Spiegel, Executive Director of NYC Wireless, explained that WiFi is reliant on internet access, and that that is the biggest hurdle to bringing an open WiFi system throughout New York City.