Opportunity in the time of Corona

Rocketry that led to satellites and NASA. Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) as a way to beat Nazi jamming. Aeroplane jet engines that ushered in a new age. The nuclear bomb leading to N-power. Amazing and long-lasting computing breakthroughs as a result of cracking the Nazi Enigma machine… The list is endless. One of the least discussed effects of World War II is the acceleration of technology that happened thereafter. It’s not that WWII led to it, but the fact that human beings thrive in a war or tragedy and their brains go into overdrive. It happens when there’s a scarcity of anything. Necessity is the mother of invention.

The same will happen with the Covid-19 global crisis that has led to a shutdown. While we are heading for a recession, there are certain industries that will in fact get a boost like the broadband industry. It is experiencing an overload and will certainly get upgraded. It may even lead to many countries finally pushing for the much-needed 5G networks as that’s one of the main things that can ease pressure permanently. When certain industries are down, others have to be promoted to maintain the balance.

Netflix, Hotstar, Amazon Prime & Co are in overdrive, but more importantly they will get a lot of new connections, most of whom will be hooked for life. Internet commerce continues to be indispensable as sites like BigBasket are unable to cope with the excess demand. The delivery boy network continues to expand unabated. As the work from home industry reaches record numbers in 2020, expect a further mushrooming of cloud and data centres.

The medical industry was caught woefully inadequate when the crisis first broke out. We may get a tech upgrade here too with things like more compact and effective testing kits along with mobile CAT scanners. We may see the growth of the medical startup industry and the debacle that was Theranos may finally be put to rest. The whole world had become dependent on China and it totally ruled certain supply chains. This has been disrupted and now we will become less dependent and promote smaller tech centres all over the world.

Finally, expect innovation to increase in ways we cannot even imagine. All the emerging technologies will get a fillip and be used in all sorts of different ways. All of us have to pull up our socks and make sure it’s business as usual, plus have an eye for the future through innovation. It was Winston Churchill who is supposed to have said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste!”