Over 120,000 confirmed cases, in nearly hundred and 20 countries worldwide, the coronavirus global pandemic, was initially started in China, leading to far-reaching and unpredictable consequences worldwide.
The telecommunications industry, specifically the Mobile World Congress, often held a seminal conference, one designed to present keynote speakers in a series of conferences but that has been cancelled as a result of containment efforts.
Delayed initiatives, as well as missed partnership opportunities, are occurring every day as employees from different businesses are asked to work remotely in order to help prevent them from getting sick.
Some opportunities have been found along the way in the technological and telecommunications industries as they try to find safer and healthier ways to companies function which includes videoconferencing technology which is broadly available, and is also helpful at disseminating proper and accurate information about the pandemic courtesy of smart city technology.
Supply chains and disruptions associated with them represent the most obvious business impact worldwide.
This virus which originated from China has affected that area, forcing many people into quarantine that have contracted the disease in an attempt to help them deal with this illness.
Factories and plants were shut down either temporarily or completely, and some of these were used to manufacture products and goods that were designated for technological companies. Apple also experienced shortages, specifically in the production of their iPhone, and a company called Foxconn has also stopped everything in China in regard to production.
Tech conferences have been cancelled to stop the spread of coronavirus, and this is where the missed business opportunities have manifested the most.
MWC has cancelled a conference that occurs in late February, yet this Barcelona conference was cancelled because of the virus. Mobile World Congress provides an event where companies can share space, share ideas, and build new partnerships so that their businesses can become better. Many of the companies that rescheduled events, and the coronavirus is also cancelled events almost entirely.
This pandemic has highlighted the need for advanced technology that we can use to adopt to this new way of living in 5G technology is certainly at the top of the list as well as Intelligent Billing.
Near instantaneous 5G speeds are very helpful in remote interactions, and it has been at the forefront of enterprises and organizations that want to contribute to helping people during this pandemic.
This could lead to virtual reality devices becoming much more in demand, boosting this technologies uptake in the world.
Companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple have been affected greatly by the outbreak of coronavirus, mandating the need for workers to be at home. Companies like Amazon have been affected dramatically as well and have cancelled nonessential employee travel to areas such as Italy, China, and there are disruptions within the US.
During a pandemic, this is the safest course of action, and virtual reality can be used for hands-on training. As the drawbacks become more obvious as we deal with this global situation, VR technology will likely be one way to smooth out these problems.
Small city solutions will continue to be more popular, especially as a crisis management tool.
There are many cities in the world that have attempted to mitigate the problems caused by coronavirus using smart city technology. Thermal sensors have been used on drones by the police force in China, allowing them to easily detect people that have a fever.
In South Korea, smart phone apps can connect caseworkers with affected individuals under self-quarantined, helping them to answer questions and document their progress. In Australia, a chat bot has been used to help diminish disinformation and also answer questions that are asked by citizens as well as individuals that may be visiting in that country.
