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If you're interested in infrastructure or business backend improvements like the ones described in the article but: - are at a smaller and more local scale tha

If you're interested in infrastructure or business backend improvements like the ones described in the article but: - are at a smaller and more local scale that don't attract attention from the likes of GIP - the process improvements are around information flow between applications instead of physical flow I am really interested in talking to you whatever the domain may be. An example I've learned of recently: Garbage truck routing in NYC is grossly inefficient. The routing used to be centralized under a single contractor with rumored tentacles into organized crime. Due to changes in contracting regulations, NYC garbage collection is now includes a mix of independent contractors. This results in multiple trucks visiting the same street on the same night. This is inefficient in the following ways: - cost of garbage transportation - noise pollution - localized pollution from truck emissions - CO2 emissions from inefficient route planning I'm fairly certain efficient routing for this is a solved computational / information systems problem and the source of the issue is a lack of coordination. I'm trying to dig in with the Department of Sanitation to see who the different players are.

nunez 10y ago
Sure. I'm currently interested in discovering inefficiencies in airline revenue management. My hypothesis is that a non-trivial amount of the spend that airlines make is inefficient and based on factors that aren't as relevant today as they were 30 years ago during the proliferation of global distribution and revenue management systems. i want to see an airline that is run by software engineers with aviation experience that rolls its own GDS and revenue management system; one that can scale well beyond its years and can operate on clusters of cheap compute. my hypothesis is that current airline operations are band-aids on top of protocols and runbooks that were developed around the initiation of the jet age, and fear and fearfully low margins has held back massive amounts of innovation that keep prices higher than they should be. (and yes, i understand that aircraft are expensive to buy and maintain)
- emmanuel_1234 10y ago
  Ha, I used to work for a large, Asian airline. They had that cool system used to calculate the pricing of ticket in real-time. No one really knew how it worked, it was built 20 years ago, and no one was allowed near it for fear of breaking it. Therefore, instead of tuning the algorithm, the analyst added their own (mostly arbitrary) rules on top of the system's calculation. It reminded me of that conversation in Asimov's Foundation, where some guy goes to some planet and is afraid to see everyone using technology, having lost all the knowledge of how it actually works and how to maintain it, therefore seeing it as some kind of magic. This was in 2015.
  - nunez 10y ago
    Right. Airlines are extremely ripe for disruption. Much of their operations are outdated and inefficient for today's consumer. When was the last time you saw an airline run a massive social media campaign? To be fair, airlines wouldn't exist without governmental intervention (aircraft and airport usage is expensive, but the market wants rock-bottom pricing), so this makes innovation tricky. Which is exactly why I'm so interested in this space.
petra 10y ago
Efficient garbage truck routing can be done via sensors in garbage cans , that detect full/empty levels. See http://www.enevo.com http://www.enevo.com
- croon 10y ago
  Sure, it let's you know when the can needs emptying, but it doesn't solve the routing problem.

nunez 10y ago

Sure. I'm currently interested in discovering inefficiencies in airline revenue management. My hypothesis is that a non-trivial amount of the spend that airlines make is inefficient and based on factors that aren't as relevant today as they were 30 years ago during the proliferation of global distribution and revenue management systems. i want to see an airline that is run by software engineers with aviation experience that rolls its own GDS and revenue management system; one that can scale well beyond its years and can operate on clusters of cheap compute. my hypothesis is that current airline operations are band-aids on top of protocols and runbooks that were developed around the initiation of the jet age, and fear and fearfully low margins has held back massive amounts of innovation that keep prices higher than they should be. (and yes, i understand that aircraft are expensive to buy and maintain)

emmanuel_1234 10y ago
Ha, I used to work for a large, Asian airline. They had that cool system used to calculate the pricing of ticket in real-time. No one really knew how it worked, it was built 20 years ago, and no one was allowed near it for fear of breaking it. Therefore, instead of tuning the algorithm, the analyst added their own (mostly arbitrary) rules on top of the system's calculation. It reminded me of that conversation in Asimov's Foundation, where some guy goes to some planet and is afraid to see everyone using technology, having lost all the knowledge of how it actually works and how to maintain it, therefore seeing it as some kind of magic. This was in 2015.
- nunez 10y ago
  Right. Airlines are extremely ripe for disruption. Much of their operations are outdated and inefficient for today's consumer. When was the last time you saw an airline run a massive social media campaign? To be fair, airlines wouldn't exist without governmental intervention (aircraft and airport usage is expensive, but the market wants rock-bottom pricing), so this makes innovation tricky. Which is exactly why I'm so interested in this space.

petra 10y ago

Efficient garbage truck routing can be done via sensors in garbage cans , that detect full/empty levels. See http://www.enevo.com http://www.enevo.com

croon 10y ago
Sure, it let's you know when the can needs emptying, but it doesn't solve the routing problem.