The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed how people live throughout the world, with many of these changes becoming a permanent part of our lives as we go into the future. Likewise, the technology sector has seen many changes since the start of the crisis, and many of the innovations are now part of our everyday lives as other developments will be seen in the coming years.
As the world recovers from the pandemic, there will be a shift in approaching future technology and innovation. Whether digital tech helps make it easier to find the latest Sports News online or consult with your doctor, These changes will be significant to our future development and help prepare us if another pandemic ever emerges. There are several ways technology has leaped ahead and will continue to be reshaped in the future.
Drone Technology Development
The global pandemic forced the world to be isolated in 2020, which affected many important industries, such as the health sector. Activities still needed to be conducted in those industries, such as collecting blood samples. Doctors were sometimes forced to trust the use of drones to reach more of the population in a shorter amount of time to collect samples for testing.
This proved to be a very effective strategy and also forced the drone makers to develop new innovations and receive government support to update the policies pertaining to drone usage. Some of the guidelines will remain after the end of the pandemic as the use of drones is adopted by other sectors, such as eCommerce and delivery companies. This is already in the testing stages, and with the technology’s success during the pandemic, adoption in these new industries has been accelerated.
Telehealth Services
In the past, anyone who wanted to get help from a doctor would have to go to a hospital or doctor’s office for a consultation. With governments discouraging in-person interactions, traveling to the doctor could be very risky. Most patients were forced to seek virtual consultation services as it was the best option when not facing a life or death situation.
The use of these services led to the development of such technologies in hospitals that weren’t using them in the past, as companies producing the technology needed to ramp up production to meet the demand. In addition, the new technology in telehealth services will still be around after the pandemic as people without life-threatening conditions may still prefer these services rather than traveling outside the home.
mRNA Vaccine development
With the start of the pandemic, scientists and researchers had to work fast to come up with a vaccine to help the worldwide crisis. This helped in the development and usage of mRNA, which was a new technology that could shorten the time it takes to develop a vaccine.
Because it was so successful in helping develop a COVID-19 vaccine, the technology will continue to be used in the development of future vaccines, which will take less time to create and is very effective. In addition, there will be more investment into mRNA vaccines soon, as their success has already been proven.
Remote Labor
We learned from the pandemic that working remotely was possible for most jobs. Usage of meeting virtual meeting services such as Zoom increased in 2020 as lockdowns meant employees could no longer travel to their workplace. Most companies were surprised to see no drop in productivity during the period, with many of them contemplating keeping at least part of their staff working from home permanently.
Many companies see this as beneficial as it also allows them to hire with more flexibility, as the employee’s location becomes less important. This is also good news for companies who have been building products and services for remote work, as an increase in users means there will be more investment in the activity, which will bring more innovation.
