The past few months have been very arduous and challenging due to the COVID-19 crisis. All the economies have been squashed due to the lockdown imposed by various countries. All the scientists are striving hard to find the vaccine for the virus. The engineers, research scientists, technicians, and many more young professionals have invented hardware and software products to stop the spread.
All of this has been possible just because of digital technology. This crisis has led to an upsurge in this field. By using digital technology, people have started their own ventures too. This has created jobs even during this pandemic. People are shifting to remote jobs to work in the comfort of their homes.
Whether making a dashboard to show the live statistics, an app to track the patients, or 3D printer to design face shields, every major invention is the product of digital technology. It is video conferencing platforms that bring the loved ones close to each other through just one click.
Every business has been digitalized. The world leaders are talking to each other through the web. In this article, we will see those seven ways the world is taking the help of digital technology to fight the COVID-19 crisis.
I. Video Conferencing Apps
Though these conferencing apps were already present before the COVID-19 pandemic, they were hardly used by people. Since social distancing is the only solution to halt the spread of the virus, people have resumed their daily work through online meetings. Zoom, Google Meets, Skype, WebEx, etc. are some of the top performers in this field.
The companies have earned millions of dollars within months and will continue to do so! These apps have also proved how companies and governments can save capital by organizing online meetings rather than physical meetings for which a lot of money is spent.
II. Blockchain Technology
During this crisis, many philanthropists gave governments and NGOs, millions of donations to help them tackle the crisis. The money was used in buying the ventilators, medicines, food for the poor, etc. But it has always been under the radar of being a corrupt practice as well!
Yes!
The donations given by rich people are not tracked at all, and there is no auditing of the money spent. Therefore, to solve this, blockchain technology can be used to track the donated money and know how it is spent and where.
The transfer charges will be quite less using cryptocurrency. So, there are zero chances of any kind of leakage. This leads to 100% transparency as well.
III. 3D Printing
Right from designing the masks, face shields to top-class ventilators, 3D printing has found to be the most helpful technology during the crisis. The face shield designs are truly appreciable and help the coronavirus warriors like doctors, police officers, and sanitization workers a lot!
IV. Drones
Since all the shops have been shut down or opened for a very short time, drones proved to be the best partner for delivering the resources in a short time. Apart from the groceries, even medical kits and supplies could be sent through drones.
Police authorities used the drone service for the proper implementation of lockdown. Using thermal imaging technology, it became easier to scan people from the top and detect the coronavirus suspects. It is also used by farmers for spraying fertilizers and seeds, while sanitization is also done through it.
V. Robotics
It is one of the best ways of checking the temperature and disinfecting people. Although police officers check the infected people at the inter-state borders, this has led to the spread of the virus among them also and the death of some. If robots could be there at the borders, hospitals, and important public places, the infection can be stopped from reaching the front-line warriors!
VI. Social Media
It has played one of the most significant roles in communicating the problems faced by people, as well as the decisions taken by the authorities. As far as entertainment is concerned, it is the only reason people could still sit inside their homes for the past three months and still do so in the future.
VII. Artificial Intelligence and Data Science
Tracking the data and organizing it is the need of the hour. All the COVID-19 tracking apps depend on the data collected by the government. Using artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning, people have developed detailed reports, charts, and apps.
❖ Final Words
Digital technology is something that no business can ignore! One has to adopt modern technology and ramp up the business using the new tools. We hope that our scientists will soon find a permanent solution to end this virus, in which digital technology will surely have a greater role. Thus, these are some of the ways Digital Technology is helping to fight the COVID-19 crisis.
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Author Bio: Parvesh is a digital marketing and online reputation management specialist who frequently writes about related topics.
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This pandemic has triggered an unprecedented demand for digital health technology solutions and has revealed successful solutions such as for population screening, tracking the infection, prioritizing the use and allocation of resources, and designing targeted responses.