New York City has joined with two local universities to form the NYC Media Lab, a project to advance technological research and development.
The idea is to foster academic research that can be put into practice at media companies. Search technology, digital mobile content, computer animation, and the use of media in marketing are some areas the lab will explore.
The two academic partners are Columbia University and New York University’s Polytechnic Institute, where the NYC Media Lab is hosted. The lab is modeled after similar centers at Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Polytechnic Institute will manage laboratory operations, while Columbia will coordinate faculty research among universities in the city and surrounding areas.
“This is a potential game-changer for the city of New York,” said Seth W. Pinsky, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, which is putting up $250,000 to cover start-up costs for the laboratory.
“NYC Media Lab will demonstrate that a university’s great ideas need not live only in laboratories but in the real world,” said Jerry M. Hultin, president of the Polytechnic Institute, in a press release.
Mr. Pinsky said the laboratory would bring the city closer to the forefront of technology innovation. “It’s a huge opportunity to change the reality on the ground,” he said.
NYC Media Lab is one of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s eight new initiatives to invigorate the city’s media industry, under his MediaNYC 2020 program.
