Will The Impact Of The Lockdown On Technological Advancement Be Positive Or Negative?

As the years have progressed, there has been a big boost for technology and its capabilities. For many people, in one lifespan, they have seen significant changes in technology such as camera technology and the introduction of the internet.

It is hard to imagine a world without technology now that most of our lives depend on it. Technology has allowed us to develop newer ways of working and interacting with one another. It has also birthed new online platforms, such as using mobile applications and social-communicative platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. 

The main highlight of the coronavirus lockdown and the star of the show has most definitely been the role of technology. Business and people have increased their use of platforms such as Zoom to do video calls and meetings and Netflix to pass the time, creating a sense of digital dependence.

However, tech use goes far beyond just this and is playing a vital role in fighting the virus as it is being used in conjunction with science to create a vaccine. Tech usage has gone through the roof creating an era of digital transformation changing the way we operate and thanks to the global pandemic; it will force technology to change not just for today but for the future too. 

The pandemic is affecting all the main cogs that determine and influence the pace at which digital technology is adopted. These groups are governmental regulations, consumer behavior, which has drastically changed over the past two months and the business process, which has taken a step back as more people work from home. 

Consumer behavior

Consumer behavior changes slowly and takes many years to happen, which helps businesses spot trends as well as getting them to adapt to a new way of working, which is what takes time.

Getting consumers to change their habits and adopt technology can be challenging. However, the new behaviors that consumers have to learn during the course of the pandemic are ones that big tech organizations would never have imagined.

As new behaviors such as social distancing become second nature, new forced behaviors will need to be considered by tech developers. 

Corporate companies 

Concerning businesses, adapting to new business processes to accommodate new technologies can be challenging and as complicated as changing consumer behavior. For this reason, tech revolutions are hard to gauge the evidence of tach revolutions on productivity figures in the workplace.

To implement revolutionary technology across an entire economy can take years as it learns to adjust. As technological capabilities increase, organizations are being forced to move at a rapid pace to keep their business afloat.

Simultaneously they need to be able to cut costs and redesign to aid their survival in a cut-throat economy. However, automation technologies will benefit as they are well suited to be in a world where humans are not able to get close to one another.

One of the biggest challenges for business will be the next phase in learning how to separate their populated offices by catering and distributing the workforce. Technology implemented here will become the new rails that business will run on, such as smartwatches to aid distancing. 

Governmental technologies

As we have seen, many regulatory requirements have had to change over the pandemic and one of the most prominent relaxation regulations has been around medication.

Technology which enables remote telemedicine which has been available for many years now, but as distancing has been enforced, telemedicine has been brought into action. The ease of using it and the uncertainty of the pandemic means many patients don't want to go back to an ooer way of working.

Distance learning is also another aspect that governments have had to deal with. Google has seen an increase in its Google Classroom technology increase over the past two months, which could become the new normal.  

Many countries are also looking at developing contact-tracing applications which will help even the spread of the virus. However, as these testing times continue, there is a chance of falling out using distancing technology once things begin to return to normal.

As restrictions around the globe slowly ease, the question of whether these new ways of working are just temporary due to the situation are lingering on the minds of all, especially business. The pandemic has brought on much change and has forced remote home working but will this remain normal in years to come?

The chance of slipping back is massive as for many, that the normal way of life but as we continue to progress in and out of danger of the pandemic only time will indeed show us the truth.