Philly’s tech department lays off staff
Several former employees of the Office of Innovation and Technology told Technical.ly this week that their roles had been eliminated due to restructuring.
Some former OIT employees suggested that staff was let go shortly after a seemingly surface-level disagreement with Philadelphia’s newly appointed Chief Information Officer Melissa Scott. Mayor Cherelle Parker appointed Scott in April to take over the role from interim CIO Sandra Carter.
Is AI new or just the next big platform?
For some, AI, like the printing press, electricity and the internet before it, is another transformative platform technology. Some AI proponents argue that this time is different because AI’s potential surpasses all previous technologies.
Ambler-based HR tech company Phenom has integrated the technology into its hiring process for most roles, but emphasizes that wherever AI is used, human review should also occur.
➡️ Read more about AI in Chris Wink’s column.
News Incubator: What else to know today
• Commercial real estate company CommercialCafe ranked Philadelphia as the #8 life sciences ecosystem in the country. [CommercialCafe]
• The Esports Trade Association launched a Philadelphia Chapter last week. Chapter President David Weinstein launched the chapter to foster more community around esports in Philadelphia. [ESTA]
• The Economy League of Greater Philadelphia is accepting applications for its annual Greater Philadelphia Leadership Exchange (GPLEX) conference which will be hosted in October in San Diego this year. [Economy League]
• New owners of the Montgomery County life sciences campus plan to redevelop the 340-acre lot. The plan will build out more office space to (hopefully) attract more life sciences tenants. [Philadelphia Business Journal]
🗓️ On the Calendar
Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
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