Strategy Analytics: COVID-19’s Impact on Enterprise and IoT

Since the beginning of the year, the COVID-19 outbreak has spread rapidly and had a huge impact, shaking the entire international community. Although China was hit hardest in January and February 2020, Europe also began to break out in February, and North America joined the fight against the epidemic through large-scale lockdowns, soaring unemployment rates, and self-isolation in March and April. At the time of writing, many countries are reopening after the worst first wave of the epidemic; and the World Health Organization pointed out that the global rise in new cases was the largest in July, with the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa being particularly serious.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new environment for people, businesses and governments. A new research report released by Strategy Analytics states:

Companies have the opportunity to accelerate the shift to e-commerce by expanding existing products and creating new service lines. This acceleration will force companies to revisit or even rebuild their digital strategies to capture new market opportunities and digital customer segments.

The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted companies to review their procedures and processes .

• Telemedicine solutions have surged in light of the threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic to healthcare providers, consumers, and businesses as they monitor the health of people as borders reopen. The virus is highly contagious, which means wearables, AR headsets, and other IoT devices can play an important role in keeping people safe.
• The threat posed to individuals by the pandemic has caused businesses to accelerate plans for which processes can be automated . The need for social distancing and the need for employees to self-isolate for weeks after infection, as well as the risks posed by asymptomatic employees, has created new challenges for traditional workplace models. It will also accelerate and drive further investment in automation across multiple industries.
• While there is no unified approach among enterprises when it comes to digital initiatives (some projects are phased out or too basic), many companies are investigating how technologies such as the Internet of Things, machine vision, spatial computing and digital twins can help them manage their employees, assets and supply chains more securely.
• The value of big data analytics and geolocation data has shifted significantly during the pandemic. CSPs (communication service providers) play a vital role. The key role involves maintaining network service quality and expanding capacity for important functions and services.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has raised serious questions about global security and privacy . A key element in the fight against COVID-19 is mutual trust between the public and governments in tracking systems. This also means that personal data must have adequate privacy protections, which has become a very hot topic as tracking models have emerged since the outbreak of the pandemic at the beginning of the year.
• Security has quickly become a focus, not only for people and data, but also for cybersecurity, as bad actors have taken advantage of the pandemic to launch more cyberattacks. Others have taken advantage of tracking system vulnerabilities to steal personal information. Companies are also concerned that the rapid increase in remote work will lead to greater pressure from cyberattacks and data fraud.

Source: StrategyAnalytics