{"id":8115,"date":"2017-09-21T18:31:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-21T18:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/statescoop.scpnewsgrp.com\/to-squash-rat-outbreak-d-c-turns-to-technology\/"},"modified":"2021-09-03T14:19:56","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T18:19:56","slug":"to-squash-rat-outbreak-d-c-turns-to-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/to-squash-rat-outbreak-d-c-turns-to-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"To squash rat outbreak, D.C. turns to technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reports of rat infestations have\u00a0jumped\u00a0in\u00a0Washington,\u00a0D.C., and the\u00a0mayor’s office is\u00a0turning to digital solutions\u00a0for possible remedies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The number of 311 service requests complaining of rodent infestations spiked by more than 50 percent in the city\u2019s 2016 fiscal year and\u00a0grew to almost\u00a03,300 requests in\u00a02017. With concern\u00a0mounting, the city is looking to new technologies from the Internet of Things and predictive analytics to spot vermin and cut off their potential food sources.<\/p>\n

The new\u00a0efforts began in June when\u00a0Mayor Muriel Bowser launched an initiative to combat infestations<\/a> through more careful\u00a0trash management. The Department of Health partnered with city Chief Technology Officer Archana Vemulapalli and the\u00a0Department of Public works to install 25 solar-powered trash cans and 400 smart litter bins in D.C.\u2019s rat hot spots.<\/p>\n

Bowser bolstered the effort by providing as much as\u00a0$800,000 to subsidize local\u00a0businesses in the\u00a0purchase or lease of\u00a0commercial trash compactors to handle sitting waste. Meanwhile, the city’s smart trash bins are equipped with sensors that monitor waste levels in real time. The sanitation department gets alerts from the bins when they are full and can automatically reroute garbage trucks for pickup.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most important ways we are moving D.C. forward is by investing in initiatives and technology that make our city healthier and cleaner,\u201d Bowser said in a statement. \u201cWe are taking a comprehensive and 21st century approach to an old problem, and we ask that the community continue to help us by reporting rodent issues to 311.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet with rodent problems persisting, Gerard Brown, the Health Department\u2019s program manager for rodent control, said Tuesday that the city is taking additional steps. There is a hackathon planned this weekend in which the public is invited to help\u00a0develop new solutions, and the city is investigating how predictive analytics might identify problem areas for faster response.<\/p>\n

Chicago undertook\u00a0a similar predictive analytics project in 2014, documented by<\/a> Harvard\u2019s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, in which it\u00a0mined\u00a0data sets\u00a0from 311 requests to estimate when and where an infestation might occur, then sent in sanitation services to follow up. In the pilot, a\u00a0crew from the\u00a0Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation\u00a0were led to a home that had never been associated with rat complaints and yet when its\u00a0crew\u00a0arrived, DSS\u00a0Director of Rodent Control\u00a0Josie Cruz said the team\u00a0uncovered the\u00a0largest rat infestation ever recorded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been very surprised and impressed with the pilot\u2019s findings,\u201d Cruz told the Ash Center. \u201cI\u2019ve become a believer. This can create a tool that will optimize our department\u2019s operations well into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eighty percent of the data in the predictive analytics model\u00a0confirmed locations about to be serviced while the other 20 percent uncovered new sites.<\/p>\n

In D.C. Brown said the city is attempting something similar with the help of The Lab @ DC<\/a>, a program funded with $3.2 million from the from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, to use data science to solve civic challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are currently working with the DC Labs, their data scientists, and one of the things they are trying to do is work on a predictive model \u2014 getting all this data from our 311 system \u2014 to give us information that tells us if it\u2019s possible to have rats in a certain location if we don\u2019t make changes.\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

Whether the digital solutions can solve\u00a0the issue or whether\u00a0more traditional methods will be used, Brown said there is a serious need to act.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only are they a nuisance but it\u2019s possible that they can spread diseases to humans, this is always a possibility,\u201d Brown said. \u201cYet the most issues that they cause is property damage. They destroy food, they gnaw on wires in trucks and cars, and it is estimated that 25 percent of unknown fires are caused by rodents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporting Bowser’s\u00a0digital initiative, the sanitation department serviced 52 of D.C.\u2019s parks last fiscal year and Brown said more parks are scheduled for service in October. The situation has even prompted outside animal organizations like the Humane Rescue Alliance to launch Blue Collar Cats<\/a>, a program that places unadoptable feral cats with homeowners or businesses in need of rodent control. The cats would otherwise be euthanized and the Alliance has heard good feedback.<\/p>\n

If the city can create a successful\u00a0predictive analytics model, there may be a potential\u00a0opportunity for\u00a0Blue Collar Cats\u00a0to\u00a0target where\u00a0feral cats are sent.<\/p>\n

As the city waits to see how its new solutions for rodent control work out, Brown said the best things residents can do in the meantime is to secure trash, report missed trash pickups and notify officials immediately when rodents are discovered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following a surge in rodent complaints, local government is using predictive analytics, hackathons and smart trash cans to take back the streets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":39356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_grayscale_images":true,"grayscale_contrast":0,"sponsored_content":false,"display_author_bio":true,"story_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4676,20648,20649,20650],"tags":[1504,13703,5275,2295,1720,4,528,237,51,25,23,13,12],"people":[],"special-report":[],"authors":[],"class_list":["post-8115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city","category-digital-services","category-emerging-tech","category-data-analytics","tag-muriel-bowser","tag-digital-services","tag-data-analytics","tag-rats","tag-the-lab-dc","tag-tech-news","tag-predictive-analytics","tag-internet-of-things","tag-emerging-technology","tag-smart-cities","tag-innovation","tag-public-safety","tag-state-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTo 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