Please find below the
Semi-Finalist Evaluation
Judges'' comments
Overall, project concept is innovative and scalable, not without challenges and constraints of course. With the advent of wearables and other sensors, it is possible to measure mobility of individuals which can then be translated into GHG emissions.Might be interesting to pilot in a small community.
The tax and tax incentive part will require the role of policy, which is a more challenging battle after the validity of individual GHG emission measures is established. Proposal needs more details though.
The concept is similar to the VMT Tax, which has grown in popularity as cars have become more efficient and reduced revenues from gas taxes. However, VMT Taxes just monitor vehicle movement, not human movement. I think the concept would have fewer complications if it were a voluntary system for companies to use to reward employees who opt-in. It could make for a neat platform/program for eco-conscious firms to offer their employees. Perhaps governments could offer some incentive for companies who reduced emissions a measurable and verifiable amount through the program (or perhaps in jurisdictions with carbon-price liabilities, the benefits measured through the program could deduct from the firm's liabilities).
The idea of the state mandating companies to require employees, as a condition of employment, to wear tech to monitor their movement would be utterly anathema in even the bluest state in America. But you're proposing this for Europe so this judge can't judge the political economy of that. Either way, it could work without the tech, with just self-reporting with some anti-cheating psychology built into the process. (Maybe even better as self-reporting saves you the controversy...also hard to see how mandatory IoT interconnectivity could parse a carpool from a solo commute).
 Ralf Lippold Oct 20, 2017 10:18  | Proposal creator Dear Judges-Team, Many thanks for your valuable feedback (despite we could not make it into the next round this time). My first immediate reflection in form of a #PresencingStatus is the following:
"Ride for Less" took on the tax-only approach (due to time constraints writing the proposal shortly before the ending of the contest), however, it focuses on several positive incentive forces as company benefits (as you mentioned above), healthcare and health insurance companies (that can directly incentivize healthy mobility behavior). Of course, the concern about privacy is an issue not to undermine. Therefore prototype scenarios within research centers or institutions like Singularity University (Mountain View, USA), MIT MediaLab (Cambridge, USA), SmartSystemsHub (Dresden, Germany) or HighTechCampus (Eindhoven, Netherlands) will be able to answer some of the societal and ethical implications of the proposal (at scale). Ralf Lippold |
