Alex Eidson

  • Student

Submitted

Using Open Innovation to Solve the Ocean Plastics Problem
Alex Eidson
Last modified on November 13, 2018 at 6:02 pm
The Plastic Bank is using open innovation to expand plastic waste collection in countries with limited traditional waste management. This has the potential to improve livelihoods among the poorest citizens of the world's poorest countries and reduce the flow of [...]

Activity Feed

On November 15, 2018, Alex Eidson commented on Printing the Future of Athletic Shoes at Adidas :

Very interesting! Curious how/if this shapes the way Adidas will think about its manufacturing locations. If smaller shoe batch sizes are possible with 3D printing, perhaps Adidas will move to decentralize its operations. In this event, shipping costs to consumers are likely to decrease. Curious if this impact would drive the cost of shoes down in the long run even lower

On November 15, 2018, Alex Eidson commented on Machine learning as a tool to predict future earning power :

Great article! Like MM points out above me, the ML technology will have to be a good screen of good intent and have an ability to detect moral hazard. Knowing that this program only appeals to those earners who do not have much faith in their future earnings potential, the company will have to be super careful in its data collection to predict those who are using the lending scheme for good rather than bad.

On November 15, 2018, Alex Eidson commented on Is the Future of Food Blockchain? :

This is very interesting! Thanks for sharing. In response to how Walmart can incentivize suppliers to adopt this technology, I would think rewards for high-performing suppliers would be enticing. In the past, it may not have been worth the effort to assess which suppliers consistently delivered high quality products from farmers. With this technology, though, it seems quite simple. Long term, Walmart (and others) should move towards prioritizing relationships with those suppliers. This carrot and stick approach will encourage farmers to move to the technology with or without a strict mandate by Walmart.

On November 15, 2018, Alex Eidson commented on Carbon Lighthouse: Illuminating Energy Savings with Machine Learning :

Great article! And love the concept! I initially assumed this business was infinitely scalable (every company uses energy and wants to reduce its bills etc etc), but when I read that Tesla only was able to save $90k per year, I began to doubt how many companies would find this technology worth the hassle. While it seems relatively unobtrusive in the way it optimizes energy use, I’m curious whether the average company will find it worth the headache to go into business with these guys if the ultimate savings are <$100k

On November 15, 2018, Alex Eidson commented on Envision Energy: Use machine learning technology to achieve an energy efficient and low-carbon future in China :

This is an interesting application of IoT that could help optimize the grid for renewables. The article points out (as do many observers of the energy industry) that battery storage and charging will have to be used in order to smooth out the supply and demand of renewable energy. However, those technologies are often cost-prohibitive and feel several years away from full-scale implementation. I’m curious whether the company sees a path forward without these technologies in place and if their platform can be used as a bridge between today and a future where battery storage is far more accessible.

On November 15, 2018, Alex Eidson commented on Solidifying the impact of open data innovation in the government – NYC311 :

This is a very interesting concept! I love the re-framing of government as a consumer-centric business, since so many people find their governments unresponsive and disinterested in fixing common frustrations of urban life. If this initiative has the potential to fix that, I am super keen to see where it goes. I worry, however, that just changing the way data is input and displayed through NYC 311 will not actually lead to better outcomes for the city. I assume that much of the reason they are unable to fix everything that gets reported through 311 is more of a budgetary constraint than an information overload. Is there anything the city is doing to ensure that the money allocated to these projects will be in excess of what has been allocated in the past?