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Call for Code – Developer competition that seeks solutions for natural disasters

developer.ibm.com

21–30 of 49 posts

Re: Call for Code – Developer competition that seeks solutions for natural disasters

#21

This is very much buzzwords-first and not problems-first. > Blockchain Ironic that such a power-hungry technology be used in dealing with natural disasters. If anything, it's just contributing to global warming. Can we please stop pretending that everything on Earth needs a blockchain?

Blockchain != PoW. There are plenty of blockchains without the problems you described (like IBM's Hyperledger).

Re: Call for Code – Developer competition that seeks solutions for natural disasters

#22

This is very much buzzwords-first and not problems-first. > Blockchain Ironic that such a power-hungry technology be used in dealing with natural disasters. If anything, it's just contributing to global warming. Can we please stop pretending that everything on Earth needs a blockchain?

Some of the supply chain applications are interesting because it's more corruption resistant.

As a currency (and a lot of other hyped applications), I agree with you, almost totally useless.

Re: Call for Code – Developer competition that seeks solutions for natural disasters

#23
post #19
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's so true. They need a Steve Ballmer ("Developers, developers!").

It's an old company and struggles with a heavy legacy. They would need more than just a CEO to move things around.. It's a mindset and from the outside, IBM seems to me like an old government building that provides services in areas where it had 10yo+ contracts and clients are too lazy to switch to a better provider.. it's sad, but they will definitely have the ending NOKIA had.. maybe a bit more painful ending.. we…

I agree that they need more than just a CEO. IBM's problems are very serious:

1. mid-level staff that's not technical, unable to get results quickly (one tends to get that mentality from massive open-ended consulting engagements w/o clear success metrics in place)

2. surreal TV ads aside, their brand is not visible on a daily basis, there's no consumer offering with IBM logo on it

3. there is no modern cloud offering (Softlayer ain't one)

4. their marketing of Watson has been so extreme, and so out of touch with technical realities, it's becoming a liability

Re: Call for Code – Developer competition that seeks solutions for natural disasters

#24
post #19
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's so true. They need a Steve Ballmer ("Developers, developers!").

It's an old company and struggles with a heavy legacy. They would need more than just a CEO to move things around.. It's a mindset and from the outside, IBM seems to me like an old government building that provides services in areas where it had 10yo+ contracts and clients are too lazy to switch to a better provider.. it's sad, but they will definitely have the ending NOKIA had.. maybe a bit more painful ending.. we…

... on the other hand, this is what IBM does have, that I would leverage if I were CEO:

1. solid mainframe business (yes)

2. massive customer list

3. significant infrastructure (softlayer etc) that could be turned into a cloud offering

4. huge long-term consulting engagements that can turn into success stories, if run by ppl capable of delivering quick results

One more thing I would do if I were CEO - I would come up with a way to put that IBM logo in front of people... Perhaps something along the lines of "Alexa for business", based on IBM's flavor of business AI.

Re: Call for Code – Developer competition that seeks solutions for natural disasters

#25
post #14

An idea: provide a service for house buyers and job seekers: see which cities and neighborhoods are in danger of being inundated in the future. Probably it could be integrated with some real estate platform - calculate a simple risk score for the listing using open elevation and traffic data. We need to start controlled abandonment of those areas already many decades early - starting from not investing more into buil…

Do insurance companies not already do this sort of thing?

Kinda. It is why the state of Florida subsidizes homeowner’s insurnace policies.

Otherwise, because of future known risks, it would be untenable.

Also, many formerly vacant parcels of land known to be in the likely paths of hurricanes, have become subdivisions.

I guess that is why flood insurance is a separate and optional policy?

Re: Call for Code – Developer competition that seeks solutions for natural disasters

#26
post #21

This is very much buzzwords-first and not problems-first. > Blockchain Ironic that such a power-hungry technology be used in dealing with natural disasters. If anything, it's just contributing to global warming. Can we please stop pretending that everything on Earth needs a blockchain?

Blockchain != PoW. There are plenty of blockchains without the problems you described (like IBM's Hyperledger).

Also blockchain != distributed.

Re: Call for Code – Developer competition that seeks solutions for natural disasters

#27

An idea: provide a service for house buyers and job seekers: see which cities and neighborhoods are in danger of being inundated in the future. Probably it could be integrated with some real estate platform - calculate a simple risk score for the listing using open elevation and traffic data. We need to start controlled abandonment of those areas already many decades early - starting from not investing more into buil…

yeah but it would never happen to me

Re: Call for Code – Developer competition that seeks solutions for natural disasters

#29
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do insurance companies not already do this sort of thing?

I don't know if they look so far ahead? Ie if insurance is just for a few years at a time at once? There's a paper that proposes long term property insurance, which makes it seem the one year contract is the standard? http://opim.wharton.upenn.edu/risk/library/J2010(JIR)_DJ,HK,...

Ahh. That makes sense. So insurance is more interested in the potential for a claim within the current policy cycle and not the long term risk.

Re: Call for Code – Developer competition that seeks solutions for natural disasters

#30
post #28

Do people really think software is the element that's missing from current disaster prep & recovery efforts? I would've picked money or maybe leadership . Maybe I'm unimaginative.

Exactly. Natural disasters aren't even real, so to speak. They are just weather events that have large scale economic and social impact, i.e. the problem isn't really the storm, but how humans are prepared or not to handle it. If a hurricane hits an island with no human influence or concern, is it still a natural disaster?
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