The Future is Inevitable - Post Covid-19 World

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While the future is unknown to everyone, there are a few key aspects that will become inevitable in the post COVID world. The world is changing and governments around the world are making decisions on the fly. While we would not know when the onslaught of the coronavirus will end, there are some aspects which will be learning lessons to individuals, corporations and governments around the world. 

Digital is the Future

No matter which industry you belong to, digital will be an inherent part of your business going forward. From the acceptance of digital payments to enabling digital infrastructure so that employees can work remotely, digital will be the key feature in the business plans of the organizations. 
The post COVID world will not allow you to survive if digital does not occupy any role in your business plans. The offering from the provider companies will also increase and this will be a win-win situation for all. 

Broadband Access for All

If digital is the future, then the oxygen for the future is the broadband access for everyone. If it becomes a human right, I would really not be surprised by any such developments in future. By 2025, a majority of the services will be offered online, much larger than what is being offered today. COVID will further accelerate the innovation in the digital space, but if poor broadband connections are not taken care of by the government, the benefits will not be able to reach to the population at large.

It is important for a country like India to ensure internet connection at the cheapest rates to every single individual so as to enable them and make them independent from the shackles of bureaucratic and middlemen slavery. 

More focus on Robotics for essential services

COVID has brought forward an important problem which India has shied away from addressing. Since we are a populous country with cheap labour, companies have always preferred labour than robots for enabling work. While essential services and food manufacturing will be required under any circumstances, organizations need to focus on creating fully automatic manufacturing lines, especially in the food manufacturing sector to tide over such issues in future.

Drone Deliveries

While Amazon has been experimenting with drone deliveries in the US, this needs to become the norm and we would see some acceleration in this regard. The Indian government must surely think in this direction. An important aspect that has stalled the working of the e-commerce firms, restaurants and many other service providers is the lack of delivery personnel. This calls for a huge case to identify and build on use cases to ensure the delivery of essential services through drones without any contact - contactless delivery.

Healthcare for All

Necessity is the mother of invention. From 0 PPE and N95 masks being manufactured in India a few months back, it has increased to 2,00,000 + each day. This clearly shows that if there is an intent from the government, things can fall into place very quickly. Another aspect to look into is the number of hospital beds and associated health care services. This has increased dramatically with new implemented ideas such as railways bogies being used beds, navy ships as a makeshift hospital.

COVID situation has given an opportunity for the governments around the world to think innovatively and implement healthcare for all. This is possible and must be done. The care should not be available for everyone but also free for everyone through an insurance mechanism or some other innovative means. Corona is just the beginning of infectious diseases. Some countries will not stop eating animals and wildlife, despite the world telling them to do so.

CyberSecurity Solutions for Work from Anywhere

Multiple companies asked its employees to work from home in COVID situation. These included companies that did not have even a work from home policy or any remote solutions in place. This urgent migrant from office to home within days led to some companies opting for not so tried and tested solutions for connecting to corporate networks. 
CISOs of multiple companies continue to have sleepless nights in the wake of such deployments. Working from not so secure home networks ( some people still like to keep passwords as 123456789) is leading to multiple cases of ransomware and other attacks reported almost on a daily basis. 

The need for secure remote working solutions is more than ever. Companies and cybersecurity professionals will need to think through and devise such solutions which can allow employees to work safely and securely from the comfort of their homes.

Driverless Transport System

This situation will push the use of driverless systems. While in a country like India , where millions are employed as drivers and earn their bread by driving, driverless cars have the potential to impact their livelihood. However, it is also important to understand that in situations such as COVID, self-driving ambulances can be of great help to people. The idea is not to take away their livelihood, but develop it as an alternate (fine-tuning to Indian conditions) and deploy as and when the need arises. 

Early Warning Systems

Not getting into any for or against the EVENT 201 ( just google it), it is time for the scientists to run large scale simulation models considering various parameters and information about infectious diseases known to mankind and develop response mechanisms to such cases.
An early warning system can help countries prepare for any eventuality, rather than wait for the last moment to take decisions which may prove extremely costly in the long run.

What are your thoughts on this? Leave your comments in the comments section.

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay 

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