ROLE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POST COVID-19

PANDEMIC IN UPLIFTMENT OF SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in over 1.4 million confirmed cases and over 83,000
deaths globally. It has also sparked fears of an impending economic crisis and recession. Social
distancing, self-isolation, and travel restrictions forced a decrease in the workforce across all
economic sectors and caused many jobs to be lost. The healthcare community across nations is
engaged in desperate attempts to save lives and stem this crisis, even while becoming highly
vulnerable through continuous exposure to the dreaded infection. 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.

Online shopping and deliveries are experiencing a change as many delivery companies and
restaurants in the US and China are launching contactless delivery services where goods are
picked up and dropped off at a designated location instead of from or into the hands of a person.
Contactless digital payments, either in the form of cards or e-wallets, are the recommended
payment method to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Many companies have asked employees
to work from home. Remote work is enabled by technologies including, virtual meetings, cloud
technology, work collaboration tools, and even facial recognition technologies that enable a
person to appear before a virtual background to preserve the privacy of the home. Many
educational institutions started offering courses online to ensure education was not disrupted
by quarantine measures.

COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of digital readiness, which allows business and
life to proceed as usual as much as possible during pandemics. Building the necessary
infrastructure to support a digitized world and stay current in the latest technology will be
essential for any business or country to remain competitive in a post COVID-19 world, as well
as take a human-centered and inclusive approach to technology governance.