The Coronavirus Pandemic has Caused 9.0 Magnitude Technology Shift
It feels like we are all facing one of our worst nightmares – Death. All major cultural events have been canceled, workplaces, bars, restaurants, the entire world seems to have gone into quarantine. And you know what worst comes worst would be? We have no idea how long it could last.
Across the globe, every aspect of life- business, education, cultural activity, agriculture, productivity, mental health are being affected. More or less, it’s irreparable damage. By now, we haven’t cracked how the virus transmits differently in different places but what we know is it’s super fast. In a couple of days, more than 100 people could be affected and die.
Day by day businesses are found shaken up on a massive scale, both private and public sectors are scrambling to lower down the speed of contagious COVID-19 and the IT industry is no exception. Further below I would like to get you acquainted with certain measures the pandemic is set to impact on the technology sector, digital media, commerce, banking, and healthcare.
When the virus initially outbreaks in China, all the global supply chains were affected but as the outbreak grew into a global pandemic with 1,015,850 cases across the world, the consequences have become even more far-reaching and less predictable. However, even in this do or die situation, a few sectors such as telecommunications and technology industries have found a way out to help with what matters the most. Keeping people safe and healthy – offering video conferencing facilities, assisting the government, offering accurate information to citizens regarding the monster itself. And finding out different ways through which the smart city technologies can combat the pandemic.
#1 Major disruption to supply chains – Originated in China, the region was hit extremely hard as a large number of citizens came in contact. Due to which many people were compelled to quarantine leading to partial and full shutdowns/lockdowns/curfew. According to sources, tech giants like Apple experienced shortages on its iPhone supply and the reason is Foxconn, shutting down its production in China.
#2 All events, conferences to be canceled- Mobile World Congress (MWC) which was set to take place on February 24-27 in Barcelona was canceled due to some major concerns over the virus. For several mobiles and web application development companies were taken aback by the news as it’s a cornerstone event providing a space to network, share innovations, and forge new business partnerships. In addition to this, even Facebook canceled its F8 developer conference and Global marketing summit, Google shifted its Google Cloud Next event to online only.
#3 The growing need for remote interactions with G technology- 5G lightning-fast speeds, near-instantaneous communications, and increased connections make an increase in remote interactions. Teleconferencing seems to have become critical for enterprise operations amid the pandemic. It may quite interest you to know that many employers have increased their reliance on enterprise teleconferencing tools – such as Microsoft teams, Google hangouts, and zoom as their employees switch to remote work due to public health concerns.
Our Post-Coronavirus Future Could be!
Bandwidth – With a large segment of the population confined to their homes will soon limit video content streaming to 720p across all content services, such as Netflix, Hulu, Apple, TV, Disney+, YouTube and other providers.
Traffic prioritization and shaping need to be put in place for core business applications during prime hours. This includes everything from video conferencing for business and personal use.
Cloud capacity from hyperscale vendors such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Compute, Oracle Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, and IBM cloud is what is going to get us through this storm.
Also, one requires to rethink priorities in the personal and business computing form factor. If more and more people are spending time at home then the notion of smartphones is primary content consumption and communications. Microsoft should also be shifting its priorities from the surface line of products especially the ones which organizations and end-users will be able to afford. I am talking about all the Azure-optimized, cloud-provisioned terminal devices which can be connected to any monitor, mouse, and keyboard.
Use Cases for Virtual reality – Big Tech companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft have limited nonessential employee travel to affected areas like China, Italy, and even within the US. Thus, the enterprise must start looking for ways like Virtual Reality to smooth disruptions for employees. For example, a technician can practice repairing industrial equipment without even leaving their home. More importantly, a wider range of meetings can be held remotely through VR. More and more workers will be able to view as well as share complex ideas such as prototype designs, etc.
So, that’s all for now! Keep watching the space to get a better perspective regarding the same. Be safe and stay home. Let’s Combat Corona together.
Shira Gray is working as a Business Development Executive at PHP Web Development Company – eTatvaSoft.com. She writes about emerging technologies. Being a tech geek, she keeps a close watch over the industry focusing on the latest technology news and gadgets.