The Internet of Things and the future of Recycling: think, prepare, react

This is a short video I prepared to trigger the discussion abut the Internet of Things and the future of recycling - it is also a short introduction of my new seminar on the 3rd industrial revolution and the future of waste management - well, the future is here and we better prepare ourselves for the huge changes that will take place within next 10-15 years.

I do not know how fast it will come, we have to discuss not only technical but social innovation too, we need to manage the substantial social impacts, but in any case the waste management industry has to make a substantial shift to IT solutions in order to prepare itself for the tsunami of interconnectivity. And what we can imagine now, is really minimal or even negligible comparing to what is really coming (more on the pace of change very soon).

As for the local authorities, as I discussed recently at LARAC 2015 (great conference, great atmosphere and very important views) they have to start the utilisation of the emerging interconnectivity, they have to work more on local mobile apps, they have to create virtual and physical human networks and to follow specific material cycles, on a local level and you know some? I believe that they can achieve much better results with substantial lower costs - we can't afford to miss the wave of interconnectivity!

Stay tuned, much more is coming

Biggest tech deal ever, Microsoft Surface and the global challenges of waste management

Few days before the largest tech deal ever was announced, the one between DELL and EMC, I was asked to participate at a radio show at LA Talk radio a growing internet radio that is irreverent, cool and entertaining also. The show held on October 2 and it was about the global challenges related to waste management and the possibilities for a zero waste society.

My host was Diana Dehm, a curious social entrepreneur with a big vision and passion for connecting people from around the world to create our sustainable planet in the most non-traditional ways. She holds the Sustainability News & Entertainment Radio and you can find all her radio shows plus many other interesting materials at her website. Interestingly, she rubs the very successful project Trash your Back, a fun, high visibility 5-day campaign driving awareness and education on our own personal trash impact.

You can find the whole radio show here - I hope you will enjoy it

I found it really challenging to have such a discussion on waste management at the same days someone commented that "...according to the engineers, a full-scale quantum processor would have major applications in the finance, security, and healthcare sectors, allowing the identification and development of new medicines by greatly accelerating the computer-aided design of pharmaceutical compounds; the development of new, lighter and stronger materials spanning consumer electronics to aircraft; and faster information searching through large databases".

As I am writing those lines, the first review of Microsoft Surface first look - review has been already published, to my understanding this will be another step towards the new modular design of laptops.

And I am thinking, how far is the waste management sector from the third industrial revolution that happens right here, right now? How we can move inside this revolution and utilise it? Well, this is my understanding: either the waste management industry will be tuned to the pace of change of the third industrial revolution or it will be gradually undermined by the waves of social and techno innovation that are coming.