A survey conducted by UNCTAD to find relation between covid and e-commerce

Consumers from emerging economies more often anticipate that they will shop more online in the
postCOVID-19 future. In these countries, the use of the Internet for finding health-related information is
also expected to increase.

• In terms of future purchasing channels, consumers in China and Turkey express a strong preference for
buying more often online than in physical stores. German, Italian, Swiss and Russian consumers indicate
a preference for a balanced approach between digital and physical retailing.

COVID-19 pandemic accelerated shift to e-commerce by 5 years, new report says

 COVID-19 forced shops around the world to shut for months and recently reopen under strict
new guidelines.

 The time in lockdown has caused an e-commerce boom, with the pandemic accelerating the
shift away from physical stores by roughly five years.

 While department stores are expected to decline by over 60%, e-commerce is expected to
grown by nearly 20% in 2020.

As the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes our world, more consumers have begun shopping online in greater
numbers and frequency. According to new data from IBM’s U.S. Retail Index, the pandemic has
accelerated the shift away from physical stores to digital shopping by roughly five years. Department
stores, as a result, are seeing significant declines. In the first quarter of 2020, department store sales and
those from other “non-essential” retailers declined by 25%. This grew to a 75% decline in the second
quarter.

The report indicates that department stores are expected to decline by over 60% for the full year.
Meanwhile, e-commerce is projected to grow by nearly 20% in 2020.

The pandemic has also helped refine which categories of goods consumers feel are essential, the study
found. Clothing, for example, declined in importance as more consumers began working and schooling
from home, as well as social distancing under government lockdowns. However, other categories,
including groceries, alcohol and home improvement materials, accelerated, by 12%, 16% and 14%,
respectively.

The report suggests that department store retailers will need to more quickly pivot to omnichannel
fulfillment capabilities in order to remain competitive in the new environment. Specifically, they will
need to drive traffic to their stores through services like buy online and pickup in store (BOPIS), and will
need to offer an expanded set of ship-from-store services.

Large retailers like Walmart and Target have embraced omnichannel fulfillment to their advantage. Both
reported stellar earnings this month thanks to their earlier investments in e-commerce. In Walmart’s
case, the pandemic helped drive e-commerce sales up 97% in its last quarter. Target set a sales record as
its same-day fulfillment services grew 273% in the quarter. Both retailers have also invested in online
grocery, with Walmart today offering grocery pickup and delivery services, the latter through
partners. Target has also just now rolled out grocery pickup and runs delivery through Shipt.

1
Amazon, naturally, has also benefited from the shift to digital with its recent record quarterly profit and
40% sales growth.

The growth in e-commerce due to the pandemic has set a high bar for what’s now considered baseline
growth. According to the Q2 2020 report from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. retail e-commerce reached
$211.5 billion, up 31.8% from the first quarter, and 44.5% year-over-year. E-commerce also accounted
for 16.1% of total retail sales in Q2, up from 11.8% in the first quarter of 2020.

The questions that IBM’s report aims to answer is how much of this pandemic-fueled online spending is
a temporary shift and to what extent is it impacting longer-term forecasts? The answer, at least in this
estimate, is that this pandemic pushed the industry ahead by around five years. The shift away from
physical stores was already underway, but we’ve now jumped ahead in time as to where we would be if
a health crisis had not occurred.

This is a similar trend to what other industries have seen as well, including things like streaming/cord
cutting, gaming and social video apps, and more.

Correction: The US Census Bureau figures indicate growth of 31.8% on a quarterly, not annual, basis.
This figure was corrected after publication. TC apologizes for the error.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/08/covid19-pandemic-social-shift-ecommerce-report/

Health workers are using TikTok to debunk COVID-19 myths

 Health workers have been taking to video-sharing app TikTok and other social media platforms
to dispel misinformation about COVID-19 and the response to the pandemic.

 Social media can help inform the public but also amplify misinformation, WHO warns.

 Young people are more likely to be sceptical about vaccines, data shows.

As vaccines are rolled out across the world, dispelling misconceptions about COVID-19 has never been
more important – prompting scientists and healthcare workers to turn to social media platforms like
TikTok to do their bit.

During the first quarter of 2020 alone – when much of the world went into lockdown – the video-sharing
app was downloaded 315 million times.

TikTok user and PhD scientist Dr.Noc – real name Morgan McSweeney – uses the app to address
misconceptions about COVID-19 and the vaccines developed to fight the disease.

In a post dated January 12, he seeks to put into context the number of COVID-19 deaths in the US over
the past week to more than 372,000 followers.

“I know there’s a lot of people in denial right… so I’m going to give you some context about the current
COVID surge,” he says in the TikTok video. “Last year – the whole year, the whole flu season 2020 –
there were about 20,000-60,000 influenza deaths.

“In the last week – the last one week – of this COVID surge, there’s been over 20,000 deaths. This is
pretty bad.”

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Medical staff address COVID-19 myths

Christina Kim is an oncology nurse practitioner with more than 231,000 followers who took to TikTok
herself after noticing videos with false information about COVID. She told Wired: “I was so shocked to be
exposed to this world of people – people who didn’t believe in science.”

Her recent videos address questions such as ‘can a group of vaccinated people get together without
masks?’, ‘could people with prior COVID infection have worse vaccine side effects?’  and ‘what happens
between the 1st and 2nd vaccine doses?’.

Meanwhile, Dr Rose Marie Leslie, a chief family medicine resident at the University of Minnesota
Medical School, uses TikTok to tackle a range of medical issues, including sexual health matters, for
young people – who often do not know where to seek such information.

But she also addresses issues related to COVID-19 and her video about what side effects she’s had from
the vaccine, which includes footage of her getting the shot, has clocked up more than 970,000 views.

Good way to target younger people

Videos such as these can prove vital in combating COVID-19 myths on a social media network known for
its popularity among younger people.

TikTok’s popularity could be particularly important when it comes to encouraging vaccination in young
people, who tend to be more sceptical about vaccines than older age groups.

For example, in the US just over half (55%) of those under 30 said they would definitely or probably get
a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 75% of those over 65, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

As successful vaccination programmes require a certain amount of the population being protected,
getting all age groups on board will be key in ending the pandemic.

WHO warns of ‘infodemic’ undermining global response

COVID-19 is the first pandemic where technology and social media have been readily available to keep
people informed. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of the dangers of social
media enabling and amplifying what it calls an ‘infodemic’, the spreading of misinformation that can
undermine the global response.

At its worst, misinformation can cost lives. But it can also cause societal divisions by polarizing public
debate, amplifying hate speech and heightening the risk of conflict, violence and human rights
violations, the WHO warns.

The organization has published guidance on how to report false and potentially harmful COVID-19
information on a range of online platforms, while a ‘Mythbusters’ section of the WHO website addresses
claims such as whether eating garlic can protect from coronavirus (it doesn’t).

Social media used to combat misleading information

Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter also post warnings on shared content that may be
misleading, advising users to refer to sources such as the WHO. Meanwhile, YouTube has vowed to
remove any misinformation about vaccines.

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With the support of content creators such as Dr.Noc, such online platforms could also prove a vital
secondary tool in helping end the pandemic.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/tiktok-social-media-covid-myths/

The Davos Agenda 2021: What You Need To Know

If not for Covid-19, world leaders would be enroute to the Swiss ski resort of Davos to discuss
critical issues affecting the globe.

However, the main event will now take place in Singapore near the end of May thanks to the
coronavirus situation in Europe.

Nevertheless, an online event named ‘The Davos Agenda’ kicks off today till January 29th under
the theme “A Crucial Year to Rebuild Trust”.

Who is invited?

I would love a personal invite, but not anybody can attend this prestigious event.

This is reserved for key government officials, business leaders, financial heavyweights, and
heads of states. Major speakers include European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde,
Bill Gates, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and many others.
Guess who was not invited…former US President Donald Trump. Already banned from Twitter
and Facebook, it looks like he will be blocked from attending another WEF at Davos – especially
after World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Klaus Schwab showed little interest in extending
an offer.

What will be discussed?

The Davos Agenda 2021 will centre on the theme of a "Crucial Year to Rebuild Trust".

Over the past year, the coronavirus menace has disrupted lives, crippled businesses and punished
economies across the globe. However, with the first vaccine doses being administered there is
some light at the end of the tunnel. World leaders will discuss critical issues revolving around
vaccination programs, job creation and climate change. Essentially, the virtual conference aims
to develop forward-looking and sustainable solutions for a post-Covid-19 world.

Why does this even matter?

Investors will be closely scrutinizing the virtual high-level meetings for key clues on what to
expect from world leaders, government and business leaders in 2021. Should the
meetings/speeches sound hopeful and optimistic, this may boost sentiment over the global
outlook.

However, if world leaders sound cautious and pessimistic – especially in regards to the Covid-19
developments, risk-off could make an unwelcome return.

How will this impact markets?

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So far so good, the event has had little impact on financial markets.

Investors seem to be more concerned about surging coronavirus cases, the pace of vaccine
rollouts, earnings and the great ‘reflation trade’ among many other key themes.
There could be some fireworks sparked by ECB President Christine Lagarde's speech, especially
if she offers fresh clues on the ECB’s monetary policy path in the face of Covid-19.

Where can I watch this?

You can watch the live and recorded sessions on the official World Economic Forum website.

Here is the link - https://www.weforum.org/events/the-davos-agenda-2021

By foxtimes

COVID-19: China's exports of medical supplies provide a ray of hope

Chad P. Bown (PIIE)

March 26, 2020 5:00 PM

Image credit: 

REUTERS/Aly Song

Hexuan Li, Eva Zhang, and Tianlei Huang provided outstanding data assistance, and William Melancon
and Oliver Ward assisted with graphics.

Partially abetted by the Trump administration’s demonization of China over the COVID-19 pandemic,
there has been widespread fear that vital exports of Chinese personal protective equipment supplies to
the United States would disappear. The European Union worried that China’s outbreak might lead to
supply disruptions. Newly released Chinese customs data indicate, however, that there was a drop but
not as precipitous as feared. Chinese exports of essential hospital supplies did decline in the first two
months of 2020, as expected, but only by 15 percent. And the factors behind the dip were complex, and
not simply a case of China hoarding the equipment for itself or retaliating against the Trump trade war.

The latest evidence provides a small ray of sunshine given massive global shortages of masks, hospital
gowns, and other personal protective equipment. In the same vein, the New York
Times has reported that China is now producing 116 million masks a day, 12 times its supply prior to the
outbreak. Chinese billionaire Jack Ma is flying  protective face masks to Europe and the United States.
The Chinese government has offered to export protective equipment to Italy and other countries.

But these hopeful results should not relax pressure on national and local governments around the world
to provide urgent financing to amp up domestic production of key medical supplies as the pandemic
spreads and needs grow.

Hopefully, governments may now feel less pressure to erect new trade barriers—including the self-
defeating export restrictions by the European Union and others now spreading like wildfire. Trade
protectionism—whether it curbs imports or exports or applies “Buy Local” regulations to purchases
made by hospitals—will strangle essential supply lines, raise prices, and cost lives.

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THE WORLD IS VERY RELIANT ON CHINA FOR IMPORTS OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

As the coronavirus spread globally in February, many countries feared their medical workers would
suffer shortages of crucial equipment to treat the growing number of patients. With demand spiking in
China, reports on conditions there stoked more concern, given how important it is as a global supplier of
hospital gear. Take five pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) critical to the fight against COVID-
19.

China provided 43 percent of world imports of face shields, protective garments, mouth-nose-protection
equipment, gloves, and goggles in 2018 (figure 1). China is a major supplier collectively and of each of
the five products individually.

Many countries also produce these medical gear locally. But as a share of imports, China is a major
player. China was the source of 50 percent of EU imports of these products from outside the bloc in
2018, including as high as 71 percent of EU imports of mouth-nose-protective equipment. Similarly for
the United States, China was the source of 48 percent of imports of PPE in 2018, providing 45 percent of
US imports of protective garments. For the EU, the United States, and many other countries, imports of
these critical supplies could have been disrupted if China’s exports had shut down in early 2020.

WITH THE OUTBREAK IN CHINA, MANY EXPECTED A SHARP DECLINE IN CHINESE MEDICAL EXPORTS

In January and February 2020, as the coronavirus spread in China, the rest of the world feared being cut
off from critical Chinese supplies just when they would be needed the most. Two factors fueled fears of
a massive decline in Chinese exports of medical equipment to the world.

Chinese demand for such products spiked sharply due to the outbreak. China erected entire hospitals
from scratch to treat COVID-19 patients. Clinics in Guangdong Province alone conducted 320,000 tests,
the World Health Organization mission to China over February 16–24 reported. A Chinese demand
increase meant fewer PPEs would be left over for export.

Second, despite the Chinese government officially refuting media reports on March 5 that it had banned
exports of medical supplies, fears lingered. China had issued a record number of “force majeure”
certificates to allow its companies to break contracts, including with foreign suppliers. One worry was
some of these certificates were granted to medical suppliers to cater to local needs.

A third factor weighed in favor of China’s ability to continue to export. At a State Council
press briefing on March 6, the Chinese government indicated it had managed to scale up Chinese
production of some key hospital supplies, noting its daily output of protective clothing had increased
from “less than 20,000 pieces in the early stage of the epidemic to the current 500,000 pieces. N95
masks reached 1.6 million from 200,000, and ordinary masks reached 100 million. The production
capacity of other materials and medical treatment equipment is also greatly improved.”

Nevertheless, it remained unclear how much earlier that Chinese production had expanded and what
the impact of increased production would have been on China’s exports.

CHINA’S EXPORTS OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT FELL IN EARLY 2020, BUT NOT AS BADLY AS
FEARED

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According to official Chinese customs data released on March 25, Chinese exports of PPE to the world
declined by only 15 percent in the first two months of 2020, relative to the same period in 2019 (figure
2). Notable is that China’s exports of these medical products declined less than the rest of its exports to
the world, which fell by 17 percent during the same period.

The same holds for China’s PPE exports to key trading partners. China’s PPE exports to the European
Union declined by only 17 percent, whereas exports of all other products dropped by 20 percent.

China’s PPE exports to the United States fell by only 19 percent, just slightly more than the drop in PPE
exports to the EU. Thus, there is no evidence here that China was voluntarily holding back PPE exports to
the United States during this period: The 19 percent decline in China’s PPE sales to the United States
was actually smaller than the 28 percent fall in its exports to the United States of all other products.

Compared with the EU, a bigger decline in Chinese exports to the United States was expected, given
President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese medical supplies in 2019. It was
not until March 10 and 17 that Trump finally agreed to lift tariffs from many of these products.

In terms of specific products, China’s exports to the world of goggles and visors as well as mouth-nose-
protective equipment declined by more than 15 percent; exports of protective garments and gloves fell
by less than 15 percent. Sales to the EU dropped the most for goggles and visors (24 percent), whereas
for the United States the biggest decline was in sales of protective garments (27 percent).

This is not all positive, and there are three important caveats. The massive increase in demand from
Europe, the United States, and the rest of the world being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic meant import
demand jumped. Where available, the evidence supports the idea that import volumes for these
products dropped slightly more than import values, and export prices increased with the spike in
demand abroad.[1]

Second, while not known from the data, Chinese exports may have dropped in February 2020 relative to
January. The January 25 start of the Lunar New Year may have elevated January’s exports, with
the extension of the lunar holiday then slowing exports in February, relative to January. The March 2020
export statistics due in April will provide additional information.

Third, China also took some of the global supply of these products off the market by increasing its
imports. While it was still a major net exporter, China’s need for medical supplies more than doubled its
PPE imports during this same period.

GOVERNMENTS SHOULD NOW RELAX TRADE RESTRICTIONS ON MEDICAL SUPPLIES

The United States, Europe, and rest of the world need to step up local production of medical equipment.
More Chinese exports are also needed. But the worst fears, that China was potentially halting medical
supply exports, do not seem to have materialized.

These data will hopefully make policymakers rest easier that China indeed did not impose an export ban
in January and February cutting off supplies of critical medical equipment to the world. The European
Union and others should feel some relief about future access to medical imports and consider lifting
their dangerous export restrictions earlier than the late April date at which they are currently set to
expire.

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And hopefully President Trump will dismiss requests like the one from Representative Doug Collins, to
ban exports of US medical equipment, as well as proposals from White House trade advisor Peter
Navarro that the United States should forbid hospitals from importing these critical supplies from China
or wherever else they can import from. Forcing medical providers to spend extra time and money
searching only in certain domestic locations for vital equipment, where such supplies may not exist, will
result in higher prices and waste the precious resources they need to devote to treating COVID-19
patients.

In a small positive sign on March 25, the trade ministers of seven countries, including Canada and
Australia, committed to keeping markets open and cross-border supply chains moving, affirming “the
importance of refraining from the imposition of export controls or tariffs and non-tariff barriers.” More
such commitment and policy actions are needed, especially from leaders of major economies like the
United States, European Union, and China.

The world’s COVID-19 patients and medical experts need their policymakers to allow vital supplies and
equipment to flow unimpeded from one country to another, wherever needed, as the crisis continues to
evolve. Global cooperation is the only way countries can minimize the devastation COVID-19 is leaving in
its path.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed education forever. This is how 

 The COVID-19 has resulted in schools shut all across the world. Globally, over 1.2 billion children
are out of the classroom.

 As a result, education has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby
teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms.

 Research suggests that online learning has been shown to increase retention of information, and
take less time, meaning the changes coronavirus have caused might be here to stay.

While countries are at different points in their COVID-19 infection rates, worldwide there are currently
more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures due to the pandemic. In
Denmark, children up to the age of 11 are returning to nurseries and schools after initially closing on 12
March, but in South Korea students are responding to roll calls from their teachers online.

With this sudden shift away from the classroom in many parts of the globe, some are wondering
whether the adoption of online learning will continue to persist post-pandemic, and how such a shift
would impact the worldwide education market.

Even before COVID-19, there was already high growth and adoption in education technology, with global
edtech investments reaching US$18.66 billion in 2019 and the overall market for online education
projected to reach $350 Billion by 2025. Whether it is language apps, virtual tutoring, video
conferencing tools, or online learning software, there has been a significant surge in usage since COVID-
19.

How is the education sector responding to COVID-19?

In response to significant demand, many online learning platforms are offering free access to their
services, including platforms like BYJU’S, a Bangalore-based educational technology and online tutoring

8
firm founded in 2011, which is now the world’s most highly valued edtech company. Since announcing
free live classes on its Think and Learn app, BYJU’s has seen a 200% increase in the number of new
students using its product, according to Mrinal Mohit, the company's Chief Operating Officer.

Tencent classroom, meanwhile, has been used extensively since mid-February after the Chinese
government instructed a quarter of a billion full-time students to resume their studies through online
platforms. This resulted in the largest “online movement” in the history of education with
approximately 730,000, or 81% of K-12 students, attending classes via the Tencent K-12 Online School in
Wuhan.

Other companies are bolstering capabilities to provide a one-stop shop for teachers and students. For
example, Lark, a Singapore-based collaboration suite initially developed by ByteDance as an internal tool
to meet its own exponential growth, began offering teachers and students unlimited video conferencing
time, auto-translation capabilities, real-time co-editing of project work, and smart calendar scheduling,
amongst other features. To do so quickly and in a time of crisis, Lark ramped up its global server
infrastructure and engineering capabilities to ensure reliable connectivity.

Alibaba’s distance learning solution, DingTalk, had to prepare for a similar influx: “To support large-scale
remote work, the platform tapped Alibaba Cloud to deploy more than 100,000 new cloud servers in just
two hours last month – setting a new record for rapid capacity expansion,” according to DingTalk CEO,
Chen Hang.

Some school districts are forming unique partnerships, like the one between The Los Angeles Unified
School District and PBS SoCal/KCET to offer local educational broadcasts, with separate channels focused
on different ages, and a range of digital options. Media organizations such as the BBC are also powering
virtual learning; Bitesize Daily, launched on 20 April, is offering 14 weeks of curriculum-based learning
for kids across the UK with celebrities like Manchester City footballer Sergio Aguero teaching some of
the content.

9
What does this mean for the future of learning?

While some believe that the unplanned and rapid move to online learning – with no training, insufficient
bandwidth, and little preparation – will result in a poor user experience that is unconducive to sustained
growth, others believe that a new hybrid model of education will emerge, with significant benefits. “I
believe that the integration of information technology in education will be further accelerated and that
online education will eventually become an integral component of school education,“ says Wang Tao,
Vice President of Tencent Cloud and Vice President of Tencent Education.

There have already been successful transitions amongst many universities. For example, Zhejiang
University managed to get more than 5,000 courses online just two weeks into the transition using
“DingTalk ZJU”. The Imperial College London started offering a course on the science of coronavirus,
which is now the most enrolled class launched in 2020 on Coursera.

Many are already touting the benefits: Dr Amjad, a Professor at The University of Jordan who has been
using Lark to teach his students says, “It has changed the way of teaching. It enables me to reach out to
my students more efficiently and effectively through chat groups, video meetings, voting and also
document sharing, especially during this pandemic. My students also find it is easier to communicate on
Lark. I will stick to Lark even after coronavirus, I believe traditional offline learning and e-learning can go
hand by hand."

The challenges of online learning

There are, however, challenges to overcome. Some students without reliable internet access and/or
technology struggle to participate in digital learning; this gap is seen across countries and between
income brackets within countries. For example, whilst 95% of students in Switzerland, Norway, and
Austria have a computer to use for their schoolwork, only 34% in Indonesia do, according to OECD data.

10
In the US, there is a significant gap between those from privileged and disadvantaged backgrounds:
whilst virtually all 15-year-olds from a privileged background said they had a computer to work on,
nearly 25% of those from disadvantaged backgrounds did not. While some schools and governments
have been providing digital equipment to students in need, such as in New South Wales, Australia, many
are still concerned that the pandemic will widenthe digital divide.

Is learning online as effective?

For those who do have access to the right technology, there is evidence that learning online can be more
effective in a number of ways. Some research shows that on average, students retain 25-60% more
material when learning online compared to only 8-10% in a classroom. This is mostly due to the students
being able to learn faster online; e-learning requires 40-60% less time to learn than in a traditional
classroom setting because students can learn at their own pace, going back and re-reading, skipping, or
accelerating through concepts as they choose.

Nevertheless, the effectiveness of online learning varies amongst age groups. The general consensus on
children, especially younger ones, is that a structured environment is required, because kids are more
easily distracted. To get the full benefit of online learning, there needs to be a concerted effort to
provide this structure and go beyond replicating a physical class/lecture through video capabilities,
instead, using a range of collaboration tools and engagement methods that promote “inclusion,
personalization and intelligence”, according to Dowson Tong, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent
and President of its Cloud and Smart Industries Group.

Since studies have shown that children extensively use their senses to learn, making learning fun and
effective through use of technology is crucial, according to BYJU's Mrinal Mohit. “Over a period, we have
observed that clever integration of games has demonstrated higher engagement and increased
motivation towards learning especially among younger students, making them truly fall in love with
learning”, he says.

A changing education imperative

It is clear that this pandemic has utterly disrupted an education system that many assert was already
losing its relevance. In his book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, scholar Yuval Noah Harari outlines how
schools continue to focus on traditional academic skills and rote learning, rather than on skills such as
critical thinking and adaptability, which will be more important for success in the future. Could the move
to online learning be the catalyst to create a new, more effective method of educating students? While
some worry that the hasty nature of the transition online may have hindered this goal, others plan to
make e-learning part of their ‘new normal’ after experiencing the benefits first-hand.

The importance of disseminating knowledge is highlighted through COVID-19

Major world events are often an inflection point for rapid innovation – a clear example is the rise of e-
commerce post-SARS. While we have yet to see whether this will apply to e-learning post-COVID-19, it is
one of the few sectors where investment has not dried up. What has been made clear through this
pandemic is the importance of disseminating knowledge across borders, companies, and all parts of
society. If online learning technology can play a role here, it is incumbent upon all of us to explore its full
potential.

11
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-
learning/

COVID-19 reinforces the need for connectivity

 MAKHTAR DIOP |APRIL 29, 2020

Connectivity is a public good: Let’s act accordingly, now and tomorrow

One and a half billion. That’s the number of children who need online schooling due to the coronavirus
pandemic (COVID-19). While some parents worry about the quality of education their children will
receive in a virtual setting, online education is still not even a remote possibility for millions of
unconnected kids across the world. Amid social distancing, connectivity is what keeps us informed and
employed; it maintains our mental and even physical well-being. For those without internet access, the
economic and social impact of the pandemic will be even more colossal.

In the battle against COVID-19, digital technologies are front and center. Countries that do not have the
infrastructure for widespread broadband are bracing for the worst. Think about Sub-Saharan Africa,
where 60 percent of the population remains out of reach of 4G networks, or countries like Indonesia,
where 2G is still the norm. As the crisis wears on, and pandemics of this kind become more common,
some countries will be left behind. For a start, being able to deploy digital health care solutions for
detecting COVID-19 can save lives, and this will also be important to protect countries against future
pandemics.

In the battle against COVID-19, digital technologies are front and center.

From health care to education to businesses of all sizes, there’s no real alternative: governments, donors
and the telecom industry must do all they can to connect the unconnected. As this unprecedented crisis
has shown, connectivity is a public good.

But achieving universal and affordable broadband access is not a utopian goal. And the surge of
initiatives underway to boost connectivity across the globe brings me hope. In the countries most
affected by COVID-19, regulations are being adjusted to boost internet capacities. And the private
sector is doing its part. We see this in Kenya, where high-altitude internet balloons beaming 4G signals
will bring connectivity to rural areas, after the government fast-tracked regulatory approval. All over the
world, telecom companies are increasing internet speed and capacity at no cost to the consumer. In
Peru, the telecom regulator plans to issue a decree prohibiting the suspension of services for non-
payment. In Iraq, the Ministry of Telecommunications has banned all roaming charges on cellular calls,
and in Oman the regulator has expanded spectrum assignments.

But this show of solidarity in the context of a catastrophic event, while commendable, falls short of what
we need most: digital resilience. We are being reactive when we should have been proactive. We know

12
that bridging the digital divide will take colossal amounts of money, as well as require the mobilization
of a strong coalition of partners who are committed for the long haul. A recent report from the
Broadband Commission estimates that around $100 billion will be needed to achieve universal access to
broadband connectivity in Africa. The World Bank Group has launched the Digital Economy for Africa
Initiative with the bold objective of digitally connecting every individual, business, and government in
Africa by 2030. But the pandemic has demonstrated all too vividly that we cannot afford to wait.

Now is the time to work together to achieve the promise of new technologies for all and keep the world
connected — even in these times of social distancing.

What will it take to achieve universal, affordable, and good-quality broadband?

First, and in the short term, increasing bandwidth, managing congestion to keep the internet from
breaking, and connecting the unconnected. There are matters of urgency. They call for changes in
network configuration, traffic management, and access to spare capacity in infrastructure in order to
provide connectivity to institutions, households, and smaller businesses. Public utilities have valuable
assets, such as ducts and poles, buildings, land rights, and even fiber networks that could be leveraged
for cost-effective deployment of broadband infrastructure. For telecom operators, infrastructure
sharing is the way to go to expand coverage and reduce costs in network deployment.

Second, we must power digital transformation in some of the world’s poorest countries by massively
scaling up resources dedicated to building the foundations of a thriving digital economy. This crisis
painfully shows that the benefits and opportunities of technology are not equally distributed. In the
informal economy, there is no such thing as telecommuting. In poor countries, even established
businesses, more often than not, do not have the capability to move to online operations. Teachers,
students, and government officials need connectivity, but also digital skills to use these tools effectively.
Economies are increasingly relying on fintech to stay afloat, and demand for services such as mobile
payments, food delivery, and e-commerce will grow exponentially.

Now is the time to work together to achieve the promise of new technologies for all and keep the world
connected — even in these times of social distancing.

https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/covid-19-reinforces-need-connectivity

The Global Fight for Black Lives

The Black Lives Matter protests that swept across America after the police killing of George Floyd in
Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, were the largest in the country’s long history of mass movements for civil
rights and racial justice. At least 15 million Americans demonstrated in 2,500 towns and cities, setting off
a tidal wave of support. Hundreds of thousands of people in London, Sydney, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro,
Stockholm, Tokyo, and many other communities took to the streets in solidarity. Captured on video, the
raw power of Floyd’s horrifying death brought to the surface local issues of racial violence and
inequality, inspiring people to rise up against what was happening in their home countries too.

Racial and gender inequality often negatively reinforce each other, which makes being both Black and
female a double hurdle in nearly every nation. The Black Lives Matter movement was founded by three
Black women—Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi—in 2013, after George Zimmerman was

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acquitted of murdering Florida teen Trayvon Martin. What began as an online campaign with the
spontaneous hashtag #BlackLivesMatter is now an unstoppable international phenomenon, with women
as a major driving force. As Garza, also a Marie Claire contributing editor, notes in her new book, The
Purpose of Power: “Hashtags do not start movements—people do.”

Dawn of hope: Global cooperation in COVID-19 vaccine development

On Aug. 20 and 21, China National Biotec Group, a subsidiary of China National
Pharmaceutical Group, signed cooperation agreements with Peru, Morocco and Argentina to
conduct Phase III clinical trials of an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine.

The results of its Phase I and II clinical trials in June showed no severe adverse reactions and all those
administered with the vaccine produced high titers of antibodies. On June 23, the vaccine candidate
started its Phase III clinical trial in the United Arab Emirates. It is the world's first Phase III trial of an
inactivated vaccine, and also the first overseas clinical trial of a Chinese-developed vaccine.

In contrast with recombinant COVID-19 vaccines, inactivated vaccines use killed virus to help the human
body develop an immune response.

China hopes to develop a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19 as fast as possible. The country
will make its vaccine a global public good, and do its utmost to improve affordability and availability of
the vaccine. Phase III clinical trials can only be clearly assessed by administering the vaccine in risky
areas. The outbreak in China is now under control, which provides the country with no suitable
condition to conduct a Phase III clinical trial. Therefore, international cooperation is essential to such
clinical trials. A large amount of data from multiple regions will also greatly accelerate development of
the vaccine.

Researchers around the world are racing to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 170 candidates
now being tracked by the WHO. Potential vaccines developed by the U.K., the U.S. and Australia have all
entered Phase III clinical trials. This is definitely good news for all.

Apart from vaccine development, Chinese enterprises are also actively working with their international
counterparts to put in place the relevant industrial chains. A Chinese pharma company has signed a
letter of intent with its German partner to help the latter complete clinical trials of potential COVID-19
vaccines in China and obtain marketing approval.

In order to guarantee equal access to COVID-19 vaccines for every country, the WHO launched the
COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX) initiative. What China is doing is in essence the same
with COVAX.

The COVID-19 situation varies from country to country, but an effective vaccine will offer protection for
all. No country can develop a successful vaccine without international cooperation. In this global battle
against the coronavirus, the dawn of hope has come.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dawn-of-hope-global-cooperation-in-covid-19-vaccine-
development-301124350.html

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Covid-19 Changed How the World Does Science, Together
Never before, scientists say, have so many of the world’s researchers focused so urgently on a single
topic. Nearly all other research has ground to a halt.

Using flag-draped memes and military terminology, the Trump administration and its Chinese

counterparts have cast coronavirus research as national imperatives, sparking talk of a biotech arms
race.

The world’s scientists, for the most part, have responded with a collective eye roll.

“Absolutely ridiculous,” said Jonathan Heeney, a Cambridge University researcher working on

a coronavirus vaccine.

“That isn’t how things happen,” said Adrian Hill, the head of the Jenner Institute at Oxford, one of the
largest vaccine research centers at an academic institution.

While political leaders have locked their borders, scientists have been shattering theirs, creating a global
collaboration unlike any in history. Never before, researchers say, have so many experts in so many
countries focused simultaneously on a single topic and with such urgency. Nearly all other research has
ground to a halt.

Normal imperatives like academic credit have been set aside. Online repositories make studies available
months ahead of journals. Researchers have identified and shared hundreds of viral genome sequences.
More than 200 clinical trials have been launched, bringing together hospitals and laboratories around
the globe.

“I never hear scientists — true scientists, good quality scientists — speak in terms of nationality,” said
Dr. Francesco Perrone, who is leading a coronavirus clinical trial in Italy. “My nation, your nation. My
language, your language. My geographic location, your geographic location. This is something that is
really distant from true top-level scientists.”

On a recent morning, for example, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh discovered that a ferret
exposed to Covid-19 particles had developed a high fever — a potential advance toward animal vaccine
testing. Under ordinary circumstances, they would have started work on an academic journal article.

“But you know what? There is going to be plenty of time to get papers published,” said Paul Duprex, a
virologist leading the university’s vaccine research. Within two hours, he said, he had shared the findings
with scientists around the world on a World Health Organization conference call. “It is pretty cool, right?
You cut the crap, for lack of a better word, and you get to be part of a global enterprise.”

For Mr. Trump, the unabashedly “America First” president, Dr. Duprex and other American scientists
represent the world’s best hope for a vaccine. “America will get it done!” the president declared.

But trying to sew a “Made in the USA” label onto scientific research gets complicated.

Dr. Duprex’s lab in Pittsburgh is collaborating with the Pasteur Institute in Paris and the Austrian drug
company Themis Bioscience. The consortium has received funding from the Coalition for Epidemic
Preparedness Innovation, a Norway-based organization financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates

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Foundation and a group of governments, and is in talks with the Serum Institute of India, one of the
largest vaccine manufacturers in the world.

Vaccine researchers at Oxford recently made use of animal-testing results shared by the National
Institutes of Health’s Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Montana.

Separately, the French public-health research center Inserm is sponsoring clinical trials on four drugs
that may help treat Covid-19 patients. The trials are underway in France, with plans to expand quickly to
other nations.

In some ways, the coronavirus response reflects a medical community that has long been international
in scope. At Massachusetts General Hospital, a team of Harvard doctors is testing the effectiveness of
inhaled nitric oxide on coronavirus patients. The research is being carried out in conjunction with Xijing
Hospital in China and a pair of hospitals in northern Italy. Doctors in those centers have been
collaborating for years.

But the coronavirus has ignited the scientific community in ways that no other outbreak or medical
mystery has before. That reflects the scope of the pandemic and the fact that, for many researchers, the
hot zone is no longer an impoverished village in the developing world. It is their hometowns.

“This is playing at home,” said Professor Hill, of Oxford. He has worked on vaccines for Ebola, malaria
and tuberculosis, diseases that have been most prevalent in Africa. “But for Covid, it is happening right
here.”

Several scientists said the closest comparison to this moment might be the height of the AIDS epidemic
in the 1990s, when scientists and doctors locked arms to combat the disease. But today’s technology
and the pace of information-sharing dwarfs what was possible three decades ago.

As a practical matter, medical scientists today have little choice but to study the coronavirus if they want
to work at all. Most other laboratory research has been put on hold because of social distancing,
lockdowns or work-from-home restrictions.

The pandemic is also eroding the secrecy that pervades academic medical research, said Dr. Ryan
Carroll, a Harvard Medical professor who is involved in the coronavirus trial there. Big, exclusive
research can lead to grants, promotions and tenure, so scientists often work in secret, suspiciously
hoarding data from potential competitors, he said.

“The ability to work collaboratively, setting aside your personal academic progress, is occurring right
now because it’s a matter of survival,” he said.

One small measure of openness can be found on the servers of medRxiv and bioRxiv, two online
archives that share academic research before it has been reviewed and published in journals. The
archives have been deluged with coronavirus research from across the globe. Despite the nationalistic
tone set by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, Chinese researchers have contributed a significant portion
of the coronavirus research available in the archive.

Though Chinese officials initially covered up the outbreak and have since used it for propaganda
purposes, Chinese scientists have in many ways led the world’s coronavirus research. A Chinese
laboratory made public the initial viral genome in January, a disclosure that formed the basis for

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coronavirus tests worldwide. And some of today’s most promising clinical trials can trace their origins to
early Chinese research on the disease.

Few areas of the world have been spared. Last year, Jamal Ahmadzadeh, an epidemiologist at Urmia
University in Iran, warned that the world needed a rapid-alert system in response to MERS, another
coronavirus. No country was immune to the risk, he wrote. In an email last week, as Iran grappled with
one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, he wrote that defeating the virus required information-
sharing across laboratories and across borders.

Even scientists working in fields beyond infectious diseases have been drawn into the effort. Dr.
Perrone, who is supervising an Italian clinical trial of the immunosuppressive drug tocilizumab, is a
cancer specialist. He is involved because of his experience running clinical trials for the National Cancer
Institute in Naples.

Dr. Perrone said the coronavirus pandemic may make medical science more nimble long after the
emergency has passed. Ten days after researchers conceived of the trial, the normally laborious
government approval process was complete and doctors began enrolling patients, he said. “This should
be a lesson for the future,” he said.

While Mr. Trump has touted American pharmaceutical prowess, and big drug companies like Pfizer and
Johnson & Johnson have announced that they are bankrolling coronavirus vaccine research, the biggest
drug companies focus on drugs they can sell year after year in affluent countries, not during short-lived
crises centered in the developing world. Vaccine research has been seen as insufficiently profitable.

When Ebola captured the world’s attention in 2014, for example, the drug giants that chased a vaccine
all took major losses on their investments. The first vaccine, originally devised by a Canadian
government lab and now sold by Merck, was approved for sale last year, long after the epidemic faded.

“Of course there are people in competition. This is the human condition,” said Dr. Yazdan Yazdanpanah,
the director of infectious disease at Inserm in France. “What is important is to come up with a solution
for everyone. The way to achieve that is to collaborate.”

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