In: Operations Management
Examples of using technology to boost the economic situation after the Corona pandemic
Examples Of The Use Of Technology For Boosting Economic Situation After The Corona Pandemic
While technology cannot be used to prevent pandemics, it may
certainly help in their better management and may relive the
economic distress that they cause, to some degree. It has been a
great tool and weapon to fight the ill-effects of critical
pandemics in the past as well including H1N1, SARS, and Ebola among
others. Many human activities are going against the natural
composition of the earth in modern times, and activities including
deforestation and others have resulted in the spread of many new
viruses that the human populations were so far not exposed to. This
occurs as animals lose their habitats and when they come closer to
human populations, they also spread some new viruses. Technology
has been a key tool through which humans have identified the causes
of the spread of viruses, which has helped in devising the right
containment strategies. Below are some ways in which the latest
modern technologies including the internet, 5G. artificial
intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, robotics, data
science and analytics, cloud, and mobile among others have helped
boost the economic situation during, and in the aftermath of the
corona pandemic.
Fighting and Preventing Spread of Misinformation
A pandemic may not only cause a spread of diseases, but may also result in the spread of panic, stress, and anxiety. Panic may cause the communities and its members to lose their sense of direction and purpose, and illicit and undesired after-effects may include hoarding of essential items, the phenomenal rise in prices, panic buying, violence, and widespread discrimination among other undesirables. These occurrences deteriorate the state/health of the economy. However, some of the leading technology giants of the world including Face book, Google and others have played a crucial role in helping people, communities, states, and nations across the world. These firms have used technologies to help people gain access to credible and accurate information, and have prevented panic and anxiety to exacerbate. Technology helps these best IT firms verify information so that people at large have access to credible data and information only. When panic situations are avoided, the economic condition and stability of the market improve.
Increasing Productivity
Technology has helped firms stay productive and have provided them access to communication and other tools through which they can create and maintain a flexible workplace and workforce. For instance, leading firms of the world including Amazon have used the advanced technology and communication tools for connecting their employees and teams when they work from home and deliver what is needed. These technologies can also connect the customers with employees and ensure that the business process goes on, even during the lockdowns and crisis time. Therefore, technology directly improves productivity during pandemics and their aftermath and imparts greater stability to the economic configuration and state of a country.
Improving Health of Communities
Health can be an important determinant of workforce productivity. Technology helps people get access to more information on pandemic and the ways to prevent them and hence is important for healthy communities. Only healthy individuals can be productive and deliver the best, which is crucial for the economic success of communities and regions. Further, technologies including data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are being used proactively by pharmaceutical companies and medical researchers across the world for creating a vaccine that can cure or prevent the coronavirus. For instance, artificial intelligence helps computer systems analyze tons of data (in areas including the protein structure of viruses) in seconds and provide clues on important components that can be used for formulating a vaccine. Hence technology helps healthcare providers take the pandemic causative microorganisms head-on, which reduces anxiety and delivers a solution for overcoming the health and economic distress prevalent.
Transparency and Traceability
Accountability, transparency, and traceability are important determinants for the success of processes and activities in both public and private corporate spheres of life. For instance, businesses need the protection of the government for running smoothly. Technology helps government agencies including police communicate freely and exchange important data that provide for the smooth functioning of the government and regulatory agencies. When markets are more secure the economies improve. Technology aids the exchange of information even when social distancing measures are in place and hence the effectiveness of regulatory activities is not hampered during crises like pandemics.
Corporates can also share, transmit, and receive important data and information using the latest technologies even in the times of pandemics and stay efficient, thereby increasing their viability and the worth of the markets in which they operate. Inputs including facial recognition provide for security and these measures are available and fruitful even in times when no close contacts can be made between humans. Contactless deliveries are now common and technologies have also provided for drones, self-driving cars, and robots that keep the economic and business processes running.
Technological progress remains critical for economic growth, even in the aftermath of the corona pandemic. It can also provide for accelerated economic revival. The use of new and virtual technologies, cloud, and other technological inputs is also only going to increase in the coming times. Technology has been crucial for preventing or lessening job losses, in preserving the health of employees, and in businesses maintaining their viability, which are critical factors for an economic boost in the coronavirus pandemic times.