New York City made a large step forward with the announcement of the new Cornell Engineering School campus on City Island. This project is intended to serve as a stimulus for high tech startups and related jobs in NYC. Honolulu takes a different but equally innovative way to improving their city and creating jobs. CityCampHNL is described in OpenSource.org as:
"The CityCampHNL Hackathon is a free event that is open to anyone with an idea or an interest in contributing to tools that can better connect citizens with government information and services. Whether focused on traffic, trash pickup, community events, or neighborhood statistics, the possibilities are endless. Cash prizes are provided by event sponsors and will be awarded to the teams that develop the most innovative and useful application."
Better access to information is a fundamental driver in entrepreneurship.
Now we come to the plans in Miami. Miami is debating an initiative to allow casino gambling. Casino gambling creates minimum wage jobs and related jobs tend to be low paying or unsavory. In contrast to the modern ideas of NYC and Honolulu, Miami is considering an idea that dates back over 4000 years. Given the vitality of Miami and its role as the "capital" of Latin America, one would think we could do better than the pedestrian idea of casino gambling to create jobs and drive economic growth.
The leadership of Miami in government, education, business, non-profit and religious sectors need to come together and create a plan for economic development and job creation. The plan should recognize the importance of the digital era, environmental sustainability, the modern logistics infrastructure in the city and the uniqueness of Miami rather than being reactive to a 4000 year old idea. Quality of jobs should be an important consideration.
