The Syracuse Common Council will vote on Monday to approve a memorandum recognizing the city, Syracuse University and Microsoft as partners in the Syracuse Surge initiative.  

The Surge aims to boost economic growth and increase the city’s technological capabilities. SU announced earlier in October that it would be collaborating with the city and Microsoft on the initiative.

Through the collaboration, the three partners will work to advance city goals in public safety, energy and job creation. SU students will also gain career experience. Sam Edelstein, the city’s chief data officer, spoke at a Wednesday meeting of the Department of Public Works Committee. 

“As many, many cities across the country are considering how they improve their use of data and technology …. us being a model, I think, is a real opportunity,” Edelstein said. 

Microsoft also announced plans to open a hub in Syracuse to support technology start-ups and develop a workforce for the city’s technology sector, Syracuse.com reported. Details of the hub’s location have not been finalized. 

The company will support up to four community fellowships for students, Edelstein said. The student fellows would be researchers working with data collected from the city. 

“Syracuse University has a long-standing relationship with Microsoft,” he said. “In a lot of ways, they brought us this opportunity to engage in this partnership.”

The public works committee examined the three institutions’ agreement at the committee meeting on Wednesday. 

The collaboration has a local focus, said Councilor Latoya Allen, of the 4th District. Because of this, the fellowships should be accessible to students at Le Moyne College, Onondaga Community College and other institutions besides SU, she said. 

Councilor Joe Driscoll, of the 5th district, agreed with Allen. He also voiced concerns about the scope of the municipal data collection process. Driscoll questioned Microsoft’s motivation in the collaboration because of the company’s potential financial gain. 

Microsoft’s current participation is based on principle, and not necessarily profit, said Jason Melton, a Microsoft representative at the meeting. At this stage, it would be difficult to predict what a mutually-beneficial financial relationship would look like in the future, he said. 

“We have certainly recognized that there is something particularly unique happening in Syracuse,” he said. “You have a clear regional plan that you want to achieve. It aligns very well with Microsoft’s strategy of empowering everybody to achieve more.” 

The memorandum for the agreement would not legally-binding. It’s passage, however, would formalize the commitment by reinforcing the principles each partner set out with, said Jennifer Tifft, the city’s deputy commissioner of neighborhood and business development. 

During the meeting, Tifft also outlined other achievements recently seen through the Surge initiative. The city has successfully installed more than 50% of its network of smart-technology street lights. A 5G network from Verizon is also expected to be completed within approximately the next five years. 

JMA Wireless, a mobile wireless systems company, pledged a $25 million investment into a 120,000-square-foot facility on Cortland Avenue that will manufacture electronic components for 5G mobile communications networks, Syracuse.com reported.

The city developments are part of the larger goal that the Surge initiative — now backed with the additional support of SU and Microsoft — hopes to achieve, Tifft said. 

“At the end of the day, if there is this agreement, I think it does give us a mechanism to hold each other accountable to a shared vision and a shared set of goals,” she said. 

Published on October 30, 2019 at 10:36 pm

Contact Marnie: ammunozc@syr.edu