Agency Spotlight: NYC Office of Technology & Innovation
The home of NYC's Chief Technology Officer and the driver of technology innovation across City agencies
I know very little about what most NYC municipal agencies actually do. In fact, even after taking Daniel Golliher’s excellent Foundations of NYC class, I still have trouble keeping account of all the 45+ city agencies and remembering each of their purposes. Does DOB (Department of Buildings) enforce building codes or DHPD (Department of Housing Preservation and Development)? I do know that the city does a lot to maintain every aspect of our urban environment, but actually breaking down who is in charge of what is a tough task in a city as enormous and complex as NYC.
I’m also someone who probably pays more attention to municipal bureaucracy than most (evidenced by the fact that I voluntarily took an evening course explaining our municipal bureaucracy). I doubt most New Yorkers could name more than a handful of agencies, much less what each one actually does or how much funding they receive. What you do hear are the cases when agencies fail their responsibilities or make mistakes, often paired with complaints of wasted taxpayer money. And while many agencies certainly could be more effective with the funding they receive, I believe lessons can be learned from paying attention to the ways they use their resources to the benefit of the public.
To remedy my ignorance and help inform my fellow city residents, I plan to run an agency spotlight series where I will highlight the work of the various agencies. Each piece will cover a brief summary of the agency, its stated purpose and main functions, and provide some data on its key details like funding, employee size, and primary expenditures. I will also touch on some of the great work the agency does or recent accomplishments, to balance out the negative news in which city agencies are so often mentioned. Consider these fact sheets or introductions to the agency, providing high-level overviews that are by no means comprehensive. These are intended to be just a starting point for learning more about what a specific NYC agency, department, or office does. If you work at an agency that I highlight and have something to add to what I wrote, or would like to provide some quotes, please reach out to me!
To begin this series, I’d like to spotlight an agency near and dear to my heart as a data scientist interested in civic technology: The NYC Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI).
NYC Office of Technology & Innovation
Created: January 2022
Agency Head: Matthew C. Fraser, Chief Technology Officer & Commissioner
Budget: $813 million (FY25) - 0.7% of the NYC FY25 Expense Budget, Proposed $743 million (FY26) - 0.6% of Proposed NYC FY226 Expense Budget
Civilian Full-Time Employees: 1,5271
History
OTI arose out of the combination of several previously separated city technology teams: the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT)2, the Mayor's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (MOCTO), NYC Cyber Command (NYC3), the Mayor's Office of Information Privacy (MOIP), the Mayor's Office of Data Analytics (MODA), NYC311, and the Algorithms Management and Policy Office. In addition, the Executive Order which created OTI eliminated the Algorithms Management and Policy Officer and handed these responsibilities to OTI, effectively making it the agency in charge of AI policy and education.
OTI’s leader is named the Chief Technology Officer3 (CTO) and is appointed directly by the Mayor. The directors of the Offices of Cyber Command and Data Analytics and the City's Chief Privacy Officer, both also apppointed by the Mayor, report to the CTO.
As of January 2025, OTI had 1,494 full-time civilian employees, with a projected increase of 18 employees for FY2026. OTI also had 223 active contracts in FY2025 for which the City budgeted $293 million. The largest expense of this contract budget goes toward Data Processing Equipment ($175 million), with General Contract Services ($51 million), Other Professional Services ($30 million), and Telecommunications Maintenance ($20 million) representing significant expenses as well.
The consolidation of all these technology-focused agencies and officers into one department allows for easier coordination and action by the City on the adoption and usage of tech tools. OTI can effectively set citywide policy for how new technologies are implemented while advancing the development of such tools internally.
Mission/Purpose
As stated in Executive Order 3:
“The Office of Technology and Innovation shall be the lead agency in the development, coordination and implementation of the City's information technology, information security, information privacy and telecommunication matters.”
All agencies are directed to cooperate with the Office of Technology and Innovation as the Chief Technology Officer promulgates and implements policies and guidance related to information technology, information security, information privacy and telecommunication matters.
OTI’s stated strategic priorities are as follows:
Build a Connected City: Ensure that all New Yorkers have access to effectively engage with the digital economy and society.
Universal broadband and 5G coverage for all New Yorkers.
Advance Digital Service Delivery: Accelerate and simplify the delivery of City services and modernize supporting technologies.
Maintaining the MyCity portal (see below)
Developing NYC311 data reporting and integrating it with other City systems
Improving City applications across all agencies
Harness the Power of Data: Integrate the City’s data assets to develop a unified view of the City; leverage data to track performance in real time and advance data-driven operations.
NYCStat: New York City’s one-stop-shop for all essential data, reports, and statistics related to City services
Setting data governance standards and build data infrastructure
Tech Innovation for All: Develop NYC as a world leading hub for inclusive and innovative technology.
Expand the NYC tech workforce
Create public-private partnerships
Enhance Technology Resilience: Provide a reliable, consolidated, and secure technology foundation for City agencies and the people they serve.
Improve speed of delivery of infrastructure services for city agencies
Strengthen cybersecurity capabilities
Improve emergency communication capabilities
Main Functions
One of OTI’s main functions is the development and maintenance of NYC’s MyCity portal, “a one-stop, user-centered portal connecting agencies’ data that helps New York residents and businesses connect seamlessly to City services and benefits”. MyCity, among other things, allows NYC residents to apply online for access to public services like subsidized childcare. Besides making applying to such city services easier by allowing residents to fill out and submit applications online, MyCity also integrates the various agencies’ data systems to allow for intake data to auto-populate across agencies. According to OTI, “More than 100,000 New Yorkers have created accounts to check eligibility, apply for, and track child care benefits -- and 34,000 working-class families have gained eligibility for subsidies through MyCity.”
Through its Cyber Command operations, OTI maintains the cybersecurity of all city agencies, including upkeep of NYC IT services, training cybersecurity professionals, and developing an AI action plan. Functioning as NYC’s IT services, OTI maintains nyc.gov and the City’s various Internet networks and communication systems.
NYC311, the City’s hotline for contacting any agency to ask a question, report a problem/complaint, and access a variety of public services, is also run by OTI.
OTI operates another monumental portal, the NYC Open Data portal. This website is a one-stop-shop for accessing all manner of NYC datasets, from crime data to economic statistics to the various reports and metrics reported across all the other city agencies. Maintaining the Open Data portal is a major service for residents wanting to find data about nearly any city matter, as well as for journalists and researchers and policy laymen like myself looking for sources to measure urban outcomes and monitor trends. OTI also has created an extensive set of tools for exploring, manipulating, and analyzing this public data and I highly recommend checking these out, as well as the substantial webinars OTI runs to teach how to use these tools.
Accomplishments & Cool Stuff They Do
Digital Equity Investment: Announced a $2.4 million investment to advance digital equity for underserved communities across all five boroughs.
Big Apple Connect: Expanded the Big Apple Connect program to bring high-speed internet and basic cable services to NYCHA residents - for free! As of December 2024, around 330,000 New Yorkers were receiving free Internet and cable TV.
Hayes Innovation Prize: Partner with the Hayes Prize Foundation to honor city government innovators for their outstanding efforts to address New York City's most pressing challenges.
NYC Open Data Week: Co-running a week of civic technology and data-oriented talks, workshops, and seminars focused on the capabilities and uses of public data.
https://council.nyc.gov/budget/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2025/03/Office-of-Technology-Innovation-1.pdf. Agency Financial Summary table.
One interesting quirk of OTI being created out of the ashes of DoITT is that OTI is still referred to as the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications in all legal documents. For example, OTI’s rules are listed and added to Title 67 of the Rules of the City of New York, labeled “Title 67: Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications”.
The CTO is also named the Commissioner of Information Technology and Telecommunications and Chief Information Officer where legally required.
cool! this is the first time i’ve heard of OTI