At the inaugural RUBICONSmartCity™ Next Summit in May 2022, Rubicon brought together current and prospective partners to learn from our team and each other, share best practices, and explore how RUBICONSmartCity’s cutting-edge technology takes municipal operations to the next level.

Kicking off this inaugural event was none other than the former Mayor of the City of Indianapolis, the Honorable Stephen Goldsmith. Read on for four key insights that our attendees learned during his keynote session.

Insight #1: Digital Infrastructure Matters

In today’s world, prioritizing digital solutions has never been more important. Although a good portion of a government’s budget is allocated for physical infrastructure and city services, Mayor Goldsmith emphasized the need to spend dollars on digital infrastructure as well.

During his keynote session, Mayor Goldsmith shared an anecdote from his time as the 46th Mayor of Indianapolis, a period during which he realized the limits of his capacity to capture and deploy data to improve his city’s waste management operations.

However, that doesn’t have to be the case. When governments invest in data management and new technology as part of their waste and recycling operation, they have the potential to create healthier, more equitable, and sustainable communities.

Insight #2: Data Technology Boosts Operational Excellence

Investing in data technology is also an investment in operational success.

According to Mayor Goldsmith, digital solutions have the potential to completely overhaul waste management by providing insights that might have otherwise been ignored. More specifically, these technological innovations can:

• Help field and fleet teams work smarter with in-depth analytics;
• Promote improved allocation of resources and asset management;
• Support better driver behavior, scheduling, and logistics;
• Provide comprehensive routes and pickups to avoid needless or unsafe trips;
• Monitor truck and machine health; and
• Transition performance from a reactive model to a proactive model.

The more insights digitization can bring, the more we can help field workers (and even the system as a whole) get the job done right.

Insight #3: Community Members Lie at the Crux of Digitization

While digitization might have a technological allure to some, its primary purpose should be to create public value.

One way to help do this is to encourage the community to become part of the process. In another anecdote shared by Mayor Goldsmith, he supplied residents of Indianapolis with an interactive 311 map to help monitor the waste management of individual neighborhoods. By engaging citizens with this software and other interactive tools, he had much higher visualization of problems that needed more support throughout the City of Indianapolis. Put simply, the technology empowered the community to become partners with the local government.

Insight #4: Going Digital is the Future

Making the move towards a digital waste management solution is what’s next for smart cities. There’s never been a better time for experts in the field to explore what it takes to boost efficiency and effectiveness through robust data management and new technology.

“Your work is more difficult than it’s ever been before. The issues of [the] environment are more serious than they’ve ever been before. The number of people living in cities is greater than ever before,” said Mayor Goldsmith during his keynote. “The resources temporarily may be okay… but those federal dollars are going to run out. We have dollars now to invest in [digital] transformation—that transformation will lead to better public services.”

Interested in learning more about what we can do for you? Get Started today with your initial quick and free consultation.