Tech:NYC Digest: August 10

Tech:NYC Digest: August 10

August 10, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

In today’s digest, Gov. Cuomo bows to pressure to resign, Lt. Gov. Hochul prepares to succeed him, Senate passes $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan, and how big tech is managing vax mandates.

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By the numbers:

  • New positive cases statewide: 3,222 (-393)

    • New positive cases, NYC: 1,500 (-434)

  • Statewide Fatalities: 17 (+5)

  • NYC Positivity Rates: 

    • NYS reports: 2.6 percent (no change)

    • NYC reports: 3.1 percent (no change)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress:

    • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 76.7 percent

    • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 64.3 percent

(For fuller breakdowns, find the state’s numbers here and the city’s numbers here.)

Today’s latest:

It’s official: Gov. Cuomo is resigning. Exactly one week after the New York State Attorney General released a report substantiating sexual harassment claims against him — and after losing the confidence of almost all other officials in New York and Washington — Gov. Cuomo will step aside. (New York Times)

  • His announcement comes a day after the New York State Assembly kicked off what were expected to be weeks of impeachment proceedings. Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine said impeachment efforts could continue even if Cuomo resigned. If they’re successful, it could bar him from ever holding office again in New York. (Washington Post)

The governor still maintains he did nothing inappropriate, and in his address, said stepping aside was necessary for returning focus to the state’s ongoing pandemic recovery efforts. (New York Times) But even after leaving office, he’ll have a growing list of civil and criminal suits to face, including those being filed by at least two of the complainants cited in the AG’s report.

  • Another state investigation into whether the governor used public resources for his 2020 book deal is ongoing, as is a federal investigation into his management of the state’s handling of nursing home COVID death data.

What’s next: Gov. Cuomo’s resignation is effective in 14 days. Current Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will then step in, becoming New York’s first female governor. She will serve out the rest of the term until the next election in November 2022. (CNN) 

  • And yes, because we move fast but the news moves faster, speculation about who becomes the next elected governor has already commenced.

In other news:

  • As the Delta variant surges across the country, momentum gains for mandating COVID-19 vaccines and, once again, masks. (New York Times)

    • President Biden has urged the private sector and state and local governments to ramp up pressure on nearly one-third eligible but unvaccinated Americans.

    • He has also ordered all civilian federal employees be vaccinated or submit to regular testing and other restrictions. The Pentagon will also require the country’s 1.3 million active-duty military troops to be vaccinated “no later” than next month. 

  • Statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations are back above 1,200, a nearly 230 percent increase in just the last month. The state reported back-to-back days of double-digit death tolls over the weekend after a lengthy streak in the low single digits. (NBC New York)

  • Thirty-eight states, including New York, have transmission levels considered “high” by the CDC. The other 12 states and the nation’s capital have transmission rates that are considered “substantial,” the second-worst category. (Bloomberg)

  • The Senate passed a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan Tuesday in a 69-30 vote to rebuild the nation’s deteriorating roads and bridges and fund new climate resilience and broadband initiatives. (New York Times)

    • Senators made a last-ditch attempt to allow some exemptions to strict tax regulations included in the original bill on cryptocurrency brokers, after pushback from senators in both parties. But negotiators failed to secure unanimous consent to make those changes.

    • The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, where its future remains uncertain. 

  • Senate Democrats have also unveiled a budget blueprint that includes instructions for how to draft the $3.5 trillion bill. The bill focuses on bolstering health care; jobs and infrastructure; family services; and environment programs that were not included in the bipartisan infrastructure framework. (New York Times)

As the Delta variant spreads, large tech companies are requiring proof of vaccination, rather than taking employees at their word. (Protocol)

  • Not every company implementing a vaccine mandate requires proof, but Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Lyft, Uber, and Twitter require employees to submit proof of vaccination before coming to the office. 

So far, there’s no industry standard on how companies verify proof of vaccination among employees. Here are some ways companies are going about it:

  • Collecting a photo or scanned copy of the paper vaccine card a worker received when they were vaccinated is the most popular and definitive form of proof. 

  • Twitter accepts documentation of vaccination from a health care provider or the digital vaccine records issued by state governments in California and New York.

  • Lyft collects its employees' proof of vaccination over Workday while the cloud collaboration software maker Airtable is using a Dropbox form.

  • Tying vaccination records to employees' badge access to the office building is a common way of enforcing vaccine mandates.

  • A gatekeeper at the office, such as an HR or security person, can cross-reference employee records to see who is listed as vaccinated and can therefore enter the office.

  • Uber adds proof of vaccination to its existing list of safety requirements to get a daily "boarding pass" to enter its offices using ServiceNow software. As part of a daily check-in to access the office, Uber employees must agree to several safety-related statements.

However, some of these methods come with privacy concerns, and technology experts are advising people to revert to using their original paper vaccine cards. (NBC News) 

  • Some fear vaccine passports, for instance, may enable location tracking, even as there are few rules about how people’s digital vaccine data should be stored and how it can be shared. (New York Times)

  • For companies storing a copy of the proof of vaccination, there’s concern around health data privacy and navigating the complex web of data systems used to verify people’s immunization records.

Simply requiring employees to flash their paper vaccine cards eliminates these problems, but then companies face the risk that a worker will provide a fake vaccine card.

Our takeaway: There’s no solution that will be a perfect fit for every company. But as has been the case for the duration of the pandemic, the ideas that come the closest will be from the tech sector.

In other reading:

  • The Incredible Disappearing Return-to-Office Plans (Bloomberg)

  • They Don’t Want the Shot. They Don’t Want Colleagues to Know. (New York Times)

  • Office politics move into the home as families bicker over work space (Axios)

  • Elektra Health, a health technology startup for women going through the various stages of menopause, raised $3.75 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six and Flare Capital Partners, with participation from City Light Capital, January Ventures, Human Ventures, The Fund, Community Fund, and a group of angel investors. (TechCrunch)

  • FireHydrant, a New York-based incident response and management platform, raised $23 million in Series B funding. Harmony Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Salesforce Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and Work-Bench. (TechCrunch)

  • Liquality, a New York-based crypto wallet, raised $7 million in funding led by Hashed and Galaxy Digital, with White Star Capital, Accomplice, Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research, and others also participating. (Coindesk)

  • WoodSpoon, a New York City-based delivery service for home chefs to connect with customers, raised $14 million in Series A funding. Restaurant Brands International led the round and was joined by investors including World Trade Ventures and individual investors. (TechCrunch)

  • August 11: Virtual: The Return to the Office, with Suzy chief people officer Anthony Onesto, CommonBond VP of People Keryn Koch, Silicon Valley Bank managing director Meeta Kapadia, and Vivvi head of people Lauren Gill. Hosted by Tribeca Venture Partners and Silicon Valley Bank. Register here.

  • August 11: Virtual: Fostering Innovation Post-COVID, with Refraction CEO Esther Lee, Company Ventures’ Urban Tech Hub executive director Robinson Hernandez, and others. Hosted by Savills. Register here.

  • August 17: Virtual: A Better Meeting, with Calendly chief product officer Annie Pearl, Mural CEO Mariano Suarez-Battan, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

  • October 6 – 7: In-Person: 2021 Propelify Innovation Festival, with Tech:NYC founder and executive director Julie Samuels, Capsule CEO Eric Kinariwala, Noom CEO Saeju Jeong, Bowery Farming CEO Irving Fain, and others. Hosted by TechUnited:NJ. Use code WeInventTheFuture to register for a free general admission ticket for a limited time here.

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