On Wednesday, June 28th, NYCETC with the support of Google hosted a Tech Bridge Summit at the Google Learning Hub with more than 40 attendees including public and private partners, funders, talent development and training organizations, and many of the key intermediaries. The summit represented a step toward two goals:
- Identifying and connecting promising tech industry training and job placement efforts to current and future employment opportunites; and
- To advance efforts to improve equity and diversity in the tech sector
New York City’s tech ecosystem is a driving force for economic development across the entire city – offering high-wage opportunities for jobs that do not necessarily require a four year college degree. However, significant investments need to be made to bolster tech industry efforts to recruit more women and workers of color into these high-wage opportunities. This includes a commitment to establishment of effective and sustainable networks that increase accessibility to tech occupations in tech industries, non-tech occupations in tech industries, and tech occupations in non-tech industries.
Key takeaways from summit participants included the need for improved collaboration among stakeholders in the workforce ecosystem, desire for sustainable and efficient processes to scale workforce development efforts, and the need for both digital literacy and upskilling for talent.
[FUNDING OPPORTUNITY] NYCETC received support from Google, as part of the Google NYC Tech Opportunity Fund, that will provide $750,000 in grants to workforce development providers with the goal of expanding the capacity of successful tech skilling and bridge programs to increase employment opportunities for currently underrepresented demographics in the tech industry. We are preparing to release the Request for Proposals (RFP) this week for these grants. The Tech Bridge Concept Paper serves as a precursor to the construction of this RFP.
Background and Resources
Brookings Institute Report on digital equity as a keystone of workforce development
Nov. ‘22 NYC Tech Ecosystem Report from ABNY, tech:NYC, and Google
EDC’s coverage of NYC’s tech sector frontier
CUF’s comprehensive report on CUNY’s tech industry opportunities