Summary of Article
In an article written by Vladimir Chuckin, he shows how the waste management industry has taken the data it has been collecting and has put it to use(can be found here). In the article, he points out the fact that the waste management industry has been collecting data on a number of metrics in their industry up till now and it is now the time that they are putting it to use. For example, Chuckin shows a map of Singapore only this time it has data embedded into it about infrastructure with regards to waste management, which areas have a lot of it, and which areas not so much. In the article, he also touches on how these insights are being used in a way that will make a difference to the everyday consumer and exhibits that all of this data will not just be used to line companies’ pockets.
My Takes
This was a really fascinating article as it really showed real-world data and its applicability in a sector that so many of us use. Also, the impacts that it will have in speeding up the picking up of garbage will be paramount. Just imagine instead of waiting until the afternoon to get your garbage picked up it happens before you even wake up, it is just one less thing you have to worry about in the evening.
One thing that I think should be addressed about the map however is the fact that the map should be infrastructure ÷ density of the population that uses the service. The reason for this is that if there is a place with not a lot of infrastructure but also doesn’t have anyone that uses the service then it’s useless to add more infrastructure to speed the process up there because nobody is going to use it and it will be wasted resources. Likewise, if you have a place with a high density of people that use your service and there isn’t that much infrastructure there then it will do you wonders to invest in that area because there you will see results immediately. once again, I wish the author would have factored in density in the map.
Conclusion
All in all, it was an extremely fascinating article. It was written well and the only suggestion I have for the writer is to tweak the map a little bit. Overall, I highly recommend you give the article a read (can be found here)!