Most frequently that problem is that government finds itself unable to use data to modernize its decades or even centuries-old processes. In the case of the FAA NextGen modernization process, housing stock and businesses have grown up around airports with an understanding of how the flight paths of those facilities have standardized over decades of operation. What makes the FAA process different than the everyday conflict of airport expansion, road construction and other government change is that the FAA process has been largely driven by using data and technology to improve efficiency. The new flight paths were chosen not by politicians trying to win points for their communities, but by cold calculating algorithms designed to maximize the efficiency and safety of modern air travel. Silicon Valley’s mantra of maximizing efficiency finds tremendous success when it comes to making computers work better.

Source: Forbes October 28, 2017 01:07 UTC