It was Covid-19 trigger that disrupted the global structure and economic system. It took the world community unprepared creating losses, pains and tears. It wouldn’t be enough to reminiscent on the events of past months where humanity was holed up in an unanticipated lockdown without assessing the other side of the pandemic. The situation is gradually being eased up.
Suddenly our lifestyle changed, fossil fuel market crashed, movement curtailed, businesses ceased to operate and objectively what became paramount was survival. Covid-19 undermined our beliefs in so many ways bringing life to a renewed understanding and philosophies. It redefined man’s understanding of religion and family values. The many religious festivities and rituals were observed in quietude with compliance to social distancing even as many places of worship were shut.
According to the European CDC- Situation Update Worldwide, an estimated 400,000 lives have been cut short by the virus. It is generally believed that more deaths from the pandemic were not accounted for especially in places where testing was difficult. Our World In Data stated that “limited testing and challenges in the attribution of the cause of death means that the number of confirmed deaths may not be an accurate count of the true number of deaths from Covid-19”.
Surprisingly, the world has gleaned some gains during the pandemic with an emerging lifestyle mostly through technology. The world rose to some innovative and creative thinking. Technologies were adopted to solve myriads of problems that came with the pandemic. People thought of more creative ways of doing things. Dormant and nascent technologies were hurriedly brought to function to save the situation. A look at some of the gains of the lockdown includes;
Work from Home (WFH)
Many organizations have adopted the remote work style as the way to go. The big tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Box, Groupe PSA, Square etc have made WFH a permanent option. WFH may not be entirely new as most SMEs and Start-ups usually adopt this work style but it is now formally recognized as an option to work style. However, WFH is a reality that many professionals have adopted for now.
Videoconferencing Platform
As people work remotely, teleconferences and webinars are becoming commonplace. Videoconferencing platform like Zoom that was little known in 2019 closed out its patronage by over 200% connections reaching to over 300 million in March 2020. Other platforms such as Google Meet, Microsoft Team, Workplace etc also came on board to take advantage of the emerging trend. Many of the Silicon giants will continue to bring more such products to compete in the market place.
Robots
The pandemic increase the need in robotic and Artificial Intelligence as more robots built with integrated infrastructure were deployed to combat the pandemic. The common fear of robots taking over the workspace was seen as a good omen at this time as it helps to reduce the number of infected medics with the virus. Robot ran errand serving foods, supplying drugs, disinfecting the hospital wards and working at the frontline screening patients. The number of drones deployed for medical errands to handle logistics also increased exponentially.
Virtual Court Session
In Nigeria the judiciary adopted a Judiciary Information Technology policy in 2012 to guide the use of ICT by the judiciary. Court continued to sit in some countries delivering judgments using digital platforms during the lockdown. In Nigeria where it’s a novelty, a Federal High Court judge sentenced an accused to death. The sentence became controversial with divided opinions among stakeholders especially on the adoption of virtual session in court. However, the National Judiciary Council came out with guidelines to douse the situation and give confidence to the process. Virtual proceeding though needed to adjust the judiciary process to make for recovery of loss grounds during the lockdown will require constitutional amendment. For now the adoption is limited to certain cases.
E-Learning Platform
The lockdown also leads to many schools adopting E-Learning platforms for their students. E-learning is the use of Information and Communication Technology to enhance learning activities. This came with some challenging issues especially for societies where there are infrastructural deficient to support internet usage. Presently, the adoption of E-learning in the educational system comes with different experiences from teachers, students and parents. For now the parties involved have different stories to tell.
Online Shops
More people shopped online at this time prompting many shops to go online as well. Home delivery became a convenient and sustainable way to go during the pandemic. It is believed that e-commerce activities will continue to grow post Covid-19.
Innovative Technology
Techpreneurship became the order of the day as individuals, organizations and institutions compete to close the gaps with many tech devices and equipment needed to handle the pandemic. Ventilators, PPE, Automatic and Manual Hands Washers, Apps, Wearable devices that handle various Covid-19 matrices were produced. A lot of Covid-19 equipment prototypes have been trending on the media.
