Technological innovations that thrived during the pandemic and will stay with us forever

The Corona pandemic - which swept the world and its repercussions continue to this day - forced humans, companies and society in general to adapt quickly to a new and uncertain reality, a reality that changed our usual way of dealing with things, and isolated us from people and the normal life to which we are accustomed.

Interestingly, recent technological innovations have risen to fill this void, as many technical advances have been made in the fields of medicine (such as vaccine development via technology using digital twins), virtual communications, e-learning, “artificial intelligence” (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT) and e-commerce.

None of these technologies are entirely new, but the accelerating pace of adoption, especially in the healthcare and education sectors - which are usually very slow to adopt new technologies - was not expected, and what would normally take many years to adopt, occurred within a few months as Digital communication has suddenly become the focal point of our daily lives.

Now, about 20 months into the epidemic, it's clear that many of these technologies will likely stay with us for many years to come, perhaps forever.

Home digital work offices

A recent survey conducted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) on companies and industrial institutions operating in the United Kingdom found that 75% of these companies have relied on new technologies and technological innovations to improve their productivity since the beginning of the epidemic, the most important of which is working online from home, according to another survey. Recently conducted by Old Mutual in South Africa among people who earn more than 8,000 rand per month (rand = 0.063 dollars), more than 65% of survey respondents are still working from home at least part of the time. And 25% of them work from home most of the time.

Interestingly, the majority of people who work from a home office reported being happy with this new way of working, according to the BusinessTech platform that published the survey results.

The pandemic led to the collapse of many companies, and led to cost reductions in a number of others, so many people around the world developed multiple and diverse income methods, all of which depend on working from home, to compensate for the cuts in their salaries or to find a new job instead. Who lost it?

For employers, they reap many benefits such as reduced office rent, bills, insurance and maintenance costs, as well as increased employee productivity.

43% of business owners believe that by 2030 there will be no need for offices at all (Reuters)

60% of business owners are happy with reducing their office space, while 43% believe that by 2030 there will be no need for offices at all, there is no doubt that the future of work will be remote and that the digital home office is here to stay.

telehealth

The health sector has always been slow to adopt new technologies, however, the pandemic changed this forever, as those in the sector realized the value of technologies, such as telemedicine and the use of robots to limit the spread of the virus.

There are hundreds of ways technology is changing the way health care is delivered and managed. For organizations, the biggest challenge is setting priorities. For individuals, the biggest challenge is accessible, personalized health care that puts them in control of their future existence. The digital health platform recently mentioned.

In countries and cities where the "fifth generation" (G5) network is available, communication between patients, paramedics and medical experts is carried out remotely in real time.

This collaboration between doctors and paramedics, using high-speed 5G technology, has enabled healthcare workers to remotely diagnose and treat patients when they cannot reach the hospital.

During the pandemic, access to health services was limited;

In order for hospitals to focus on treating people infected with the Coronavirus, this has forced health care providers to adopt alternative methods of consultations and services via video conferencing, online telephone consultations, email or smartphone applications, and research found that these virtual services were especially valuable. for the elderly.

The pandemic has brought about many changes in the world's healthcare industry, and they are enduring and will change the future of medicine forever.

E-Learning

During the pandemic, schools and universities closed, and millions of students around the world were sent home.

Suddenly, students and parents had to adapt to remote digital learning using tools such as video conferencing, language learning applications, e-learning platforms and software, and virtual education, and educational institutions from schools and universities made great efforts to ensure that students had access to the Internet and the technology needed to promote digital inclusion and learning.

With the pandemic now nearing the end of the pandemic, many universities in the world have decided to adopt a "blended learning" (live and online teaching) approach for the future (Getty Images)

The Covid-19 pandemic has also forced schools and universities around the world - which were slow to adopt technology - to change in a very short period of time, and with the end of the pandemic now approaching, many universities in the world have decided to adopt a "blended learning" approach (direct teaching). And through the Internet) for the future, and in fact, the various e-learning methods have been found to remain in a world that turns digital in everything, according to what the “mussila” platform mentioned in a report on the future of digital education.

Contactless Transactions

In the business world, the pandemic has promoted “contactless transactions” technology to limit the spread of the virus through direct contact, and the most important technologies that have become popular are: contactless payment, fast shopping (without cashiers), online e-shopping, and biometric check-in. for travel and accommodation.

All the major online companies are reporting a huge increase in business during the pandemic, and in fact, these safe and convenient innovations have evolved due to increased data processing power with better image sensors, smarter artificial intelligence, and much faster communication networks, and these methods will certainly increase in Dealing without touching in various fields in the future with the steady development of technology.

Artificial intelligence

We are currently living in the beginning of an era of artificial intelligence that has been greatly accelerated by the pandemic, and more and more companies are using artificial intelligence to develop themselves, and re-update their business models in order to achieve long-term success.

During the epidemic, many companies replaced people with artificial intelligence to limit the spread of the virus, and artificial intelligence has been widely used in many countries, not only to predict the spread of the virus, but also to monitor, predict and manage health care resources.

In the future, AI will move from a technology enabler to a technology driver, and thus, AI will become an essential part of all business strategies for long-term value creation.

Innovations will remain

During the intensification of the pandemic, many companies could have stopped working, in addition to the disruption and suspension of the entire education process, with a fatal shortage in the field of health care, and in fact, the whole life would have been disrupted without innovative and advanced technological solutions, and it is now clear that Most of these innovative technologies will be an essential part of our future.