How Cisco connectivity and collaboration can enable the circular economy | GreenBiz.
Mark Eggleston
Retired - Innovator, Product Manager, Bridge Between Business and Technology
My colleagues and I assembled and led this innovation showcase at our Supply Chain Innovation Lab in Houston TX earlier this year. This was an excellent example of a design thinking experience with over 30 customers and partners.
We built the "set" over a weekend with great attention to circularity and sustainability. Most of the items were purchased from Habitat for Humanity Re-store and other secondhand stores. We focused on using sustainable products and when we finished tearing down, we had less than half a barrel of trash for the landfill. Everything else was reused, returned (re-donated to Habitat), or recycled.
All of the technology - RFID, IoT, Route/Switch, and even collaboration - was working in the prototype. Our customers could "see" the products moving through the first- and next-life value chains on the mobile application and see the blockchain updates along the way. The potential for this is enormous with incredible value for all of the players in the ecosystem - manufacturer, retail, consumer, recovery/waste handler, logistics, sorting, and reprocessing. It also creates an opportunity for the new, powerful role CE Information Broker.
The customers and partners that attended were so engaged and helpful. We came away with tremendous amounts of feedback - mostly on the human implications of the concept. Things like privacy and ease of use were top-of-mind. But also, some concerns about how new electronic tags and sensors could impact the waste stream. All good and important insights that might not have been obvious without the hands-on experience.
I co-authored the attached article from GreenBiz describing the experience. Please take a minute to read it. I'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and comments.