PHILADELPHIA, PA — Some of the city’s business partnerships are being called into question? For instance, why is Philadelphia partnering with Anheuser-Busch, Live Nation and Shawn “JAY Z” Carter for the Budweiser Made In America Concert? In fact, to get into Budweiser’s website to read the press release you have to enter your age and be over 21.
Now, Philadelphia has announced an association with a corporation declared to be an illegal monopoly by the Department Of Justice — Microsoft.
The City of Philadelphia was named a Showcase City last week as a part of Microsoft Corporation CityNext, a global initiative to empower cities, businesses and citizens to re-imagine their futures and cultivate vibrant communities. As a Showcase City, Philadelphia will receive at least three years of priority attention and support from Microsoft, including the Microsoft Partner Network of more than 430,000 technology experts, to help the City accelerate its ability to adopt innovative technologies.
“In today’s world, technology is developing faster and faster and with broader purposes. This partnership with Microsoft will better enable us to access the latest technology solutions and resources to leverage innovative practices to meet our Administration goals,” said Mayor Michael A. Nutter. “I want to thank Adel Ebeid, our Chief Innovation Officer, for his dedicated leadership that made this opportunity possible. I also want to thank Microsoft for seeing Philadelphia’s innovative spirit and selecting us as a Showcase City.”
Initial brainstorming sessions between City officials and Microsoft Corp. Senior Executives have focused potential support areas, including:
* Assisting the City to establish a ‘municipal innovation lab’;
* Proofing the City’s concept for the creation of an office-of-the-future to streamline service delivery and improve workforce productivity;
* Providing technical support for hack-a-thons and developer camps;
* Awarding a software grant to a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education non-profit; and
* Creating a technical program to support minority students.The City of Philadelphia was one of thirteen cities selected by the CityNext initiative and the only North American city.