econ essay

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Is the Use of Big Data with Smart Cities in the U.S economically Effective?

Yinfan Li

500707676

ECON5004: Communication in Economics

Semester 1, 2021

Instructor: Denny Lie

Is the Use of Big Data with Smart Cities in the U.S economically Effective?

Introduction

There has been a heated debate on the significance of big data analytics and how it promotes economic growth. Some sources have argued that big data analytics in the management of cities has enhanced economic growth by improving service delivery and a clean environment. Other sources have claimed that the application of data analytics with smart cities has led to an economic downturn because many operations have been automated, leading to massive loss of jobs (Allam & Dhunny, 2019). This essay will analyze how the U.S has influenced from applying big data analytics in developing its major cities and what’s advantages and disadvantages of widespread applying big data analytics for economic growth.

What’s the benefit of applying big data analytic

Hashem et al (2016) has linked the application of big data analytics in smart cities with the advancement in technology. According to these sources, the rise in technology, globalization, and rapid population increase has influenced big data with smart cities. In the U.S, bid data analytics has helped improve urban mobility by eliminating traffic, reducing carbon footprint, and managing infrastructure in a sustainable, cost-effective, and secure manner.

The traffic in major cities in the U.S has reduced significantly over the past decade since the adoption of data analytics with smart cities. According to Kitchin (2014), the reduction of traffic has helped enhance movement and has helped save time and resources. Some sources argue that before adopting big data analytics in the transport sector, the U.S was losing over $2 billion every year on traffic gum. The waiting time was approximated to be about 3 hours. Over 60,000 liters of gas were wasted in the traffic during this period. Many employees were arriving 2 hours late at workplaces. The approximation of the money lost through arriving late at work was over $6 billion annually. However, with the adoption of big data analytic, all this money has been saved. These measures have influenced the past decade's economic increase that the government undertook to reduce and eliminate traffic gum and congestion in big and small cities using big data analytics.

Other sources have indicated how the use of big data analytics has reduced pollution in the cities. According to Lim, Kim & Maglio (2018), big data analytics have enhanced environmental conservation. The report shows that reducing traffic gum in cities has led to less pollution in the cities. Big data analytics to purify the air in companies has also helped reduce pollution in big cities significantly.

What’s the disadvantages of applying big data analytic

Despite big data analytic economic achievements in cities' development, some sources have argued that big data analytics have led to the economic downturn. According to these sources, many people have been rendered jobless. In contrast, others have been denied job opportunities. Because of the development of big data, AI with more widespread. The use of IT and robots in various sectors to offer services rendered by man has led to a heated debate. Some sources have claimed robots have contributed immensely to the current joblessness and the increasing unemployment rate in the country. Research conducted by Psomakelis et al (2016) that over one million jobs are currently done using robots. Other sources have argued that the use of robots undermines the education system and the skills students acquire in schools because they are not given a platform to exercise their skills since most jobs are done using robots.

Summary

This paper has presented various arguments on the significance of big data analytics in developing cities and how the use of big data analytics has affected the economy. This paper has addressed the areas that have rendered many people jobless and the importance of using big data analytics to reduce traffic and reduce pollution in major cities.

References

Allam, Z., & Dhunny, Z. A. (2019). On big data, artificial intelligence and smart cities. Cities, 89, 80-91.

Hashem, I. A. T., Chang, V., Anuar, N. B., Adewole, K., Yaqoob, I., Gani, A., ... & Chiroma, H. (2016). The role of big data in smart city. International Journal of Information Management, 36(5), 748-758.

Kitchin, R. (2014). The real-time city? Big data and smart urbanism. GeoJournal, 79(1), 1-14.

Lim, C., Kim, K. J., & Maglio, P. P. (2018). Smart cities with big data: Reference models, challenges, and considerations. Cities, 82, 86-99.

Psomakelis, E., Aisopos, F., Litke, A., Tserpes, K., Kardara, M., & Campo, P. M. (2016). Big IoT and social networking data for smart cities: Algorithmic improvements on Big Data Analysis in the context of RADICAL city applications. arXiv preprint arXiv:1607.0050