Smart city with a Bigbelly, healthy, or unhealthy?
Walking on downtown Brooklyn, at a glance, a flashlight grabs my attention. There is a trash bin equipped with a flashlight to indicate the usage of itself. Bigbelly, the trash bin, is a smart waste recycling system provider. Starting their journey at 2003, Bigbelly innovates a comprehensive city-waste solution, empowering information technology. Their products Bigbelly trash bin is deployed globally, partnership with cities to pursue and develop a smart city.
Big belly’s sensor-equipped waste bin provides local communities a real, dynamic status that will notify street-level worker to increase efficiency. By indicating the usage of different Bigbelly station, the cloud platform allows sanitation department to achieve the highest productivity by analyzing the optimal resource solution, waste collection routines, worker allocation plan, and even revel the area waste pattern.
Being working with over 50 countries globally, Bigbelly has partnered with cities like New York City, City of Newton, City of Philadelphia. However, the issue has raised in Philly. Several government reports have revealed the real situation in Philly with sensor damage, bin crushed by accident, malfunction alerts and graffiti painted on the Bigbelly. The expected smarter and cleaner city has not come but replaced with a costly, grimmer city. The high replacement price ($3075 per bin) of Bigbelly also put the City of Philadelphia in a puzzle.
From my perspective, the invention of Bigbelly is a strategic solution for communities, cities, and country which aims to develop a smart city. However, while implementing these new technologies, local government foresee the associated risk will bring to the city and make rational decision.
Theory is not practical. The company should also provide better customer services or invent a cheaper and sustainable repair solution to maintain the high efficiency of its products. Cities should predict the actual risk and provide protecting plan to ensure new technologies are operated smoothly in their cities. Otherwise, the overall repair cost may make them the second choice.
