$2 million state-funded tech and entertainment center will inspire innovation and spark economic activity

Gathered at the Center of Innovation for Technology and Entertainment (CITE) ribbon-cutting ceremony (from left to right): Warrington Hudlin, Founder & Chief of dvRepublic.org and the President of the Black Filmmaker Foundation; Carl Skelton, Director of the Brooklyn Experimental Media Center; Polytechnic President Jerry M. Hultin; New York State Senator Martin Golden; and David Turnbull, Director, ATOPIA Design and Strategic Consultants.

Recent technology has forever altered the world of media and entertainment. Print newspaper and magazine layoffs seem to happen daily. DVR and sites like Hulu.com are turning live television into an anachronism. Laptops and smartphones have become mobile screening rooms.

On October 27, Polytechnic Institute of NYU announced that it is developing an incubator where technologists, filmmakers, TV producers, videogame designers, and entrepreneurs will collaborate on the next product or company to transform the way we consume — and even create — media and entertainment.

New York state is providing a $2 million grant to fund the incubator, called the “Center of Innovation for Technology and Entertainment,” or “CITE.” It will be the first of its kind in NYC, and is envisioned to be not only a hub for student, faculty, and professional creativity and research, but also an economic engine.

In the current design above, CITE will be housed in an extension that will be built onto the front of the existing Dibner Library/ CATT Building.

“This investment in funding will give New York City exactly what it needs to maintain its leading role as an innovative source of the new media and technology that is rapidly changing how the world communicates,” said Senator Martin Golden at the October 27 CITE ribbon-cutting ceremony.

According to the Senator, CITE will “produce new technologies” and create “businesses and jobs that will enrich Brooklyn and New York City,” while spurring further innovations at a critical economic time.

Polytechnic President Jerry M. Hultin said that “It is with much pride that we at NYU-Poly carry on the historic tradition of great universities playing a major role in innovative and entrepreneurial activities that will keep society flourishing and growing.”

President Hultin explained that CITE is the first step towards the broader objective of creating a Brooklyn Media Research and Development Center, which will be one of the nation’s premier media and entertainment centers based in New York City.

Carl Skelton, director of the Brooklyn Experimental Media Center, is heading up CITE’s planning. He expects that the Center will play an essential role in NYU-Poly’s invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship (i²e) vision.

He also hopes that CITE will be a breeding ground for the “Thomas Edisons, Eugene Kleiners, and George Lucases of the 21st century.”