New York City’s first Neighborhood Innovation Lab is coordinating new smart city efforts, organizers announced Friday.
The city announced that the lab — based in the neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn, since March — will start a tech education program to teach digital skills to youths, while also installing smart trash cans for efficient pickups and solar powered smart benches to charge devices, detect foot traffic and monitor the environment.
The education program began with a hands-on workshop on Saturday to develop solar powered toy cars through the Young Innovators Program led by The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon). The initiative is expected to reach about 1,000 Brownsville youths by the end of 2017 through similar workshops. At the high school level, the effort will place 36 students into a program, teaching skills like application development and product design.
“As technology evolves and becomes even more essential to our everyday urban lives, New York City only grows stronger,” said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in a press release. “We are thrilled to see the launch of the Brownsville Innovation Lab, which will connect residents to resources, dynamic education opportunities, and deliver a significant boost to economic development in the neighborhood.”
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