Mastercard and Microsoft are to pool their payment, data analytics and cloud technologies to create a smart city “exchange” to help mayors, policy makers and urban planners tackle urban challenges such as traffic congestion and economic development.
The alliance will allow cities to use economic insights, garnered from Mastercard, in more integrated and efficient ways, the pair said. They have invited further collaboration with public and private sector agencies engaged in smart city initiatives.
At the same time, Mastercard has announced the appointment of former New York City chief technology officer Miguel Gamiño as its executive vice president for global cities, in charge of the financial services company’s smart-city solutions and partnerships.
Gamiño commented: “Today’s urban challenges are best solved through collaboration. Locals and tourists expect cities to make good use of resources that already exist and harness emerging technologies. That’s why today we invite public and private sector leaders to join us in making tech truly work for people.”
Microsoft will join Mastercard’s developing City Possible programme, convened to foster public-private partnerships in the smart city space and engage citizens in civic innovation. The pair will also collaborate on demand management solutions for transportation, tourism and energy, and ways to allow residents and tourists to pay for transit fares with the payment devices they already carry.
The two companies are also engaged through Chicago-based incubator City Tech in a pilot to model the impact of planned and unplanned events and inform data driven policy interventions. Use cases include major cultural events, infrastructure investments, and weather and traffic incidents.
Gamiño was chief information officer for the City and County of San Francisco and the chief information and innovation officer for the City of El Paso prior to moving to New York City.
Meanwhile, in another public-private sector job-swap, New Jersey chief technology officer Dave Weinstein, appointed by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in mid-2016, has joined New York-based cyber-security firm Claroty as vice president of threat research.
Weinstein previously served as New Jersey cyber-security advisor, where he established the nation’s first state-level information sharing and analysis organisation (ISAO), and US cyber command, where he planned cyber operations in close coordination with inter-agency and international partners.
