How Technology is Helping Remote Workers Survive the Lockdown
This is a difficult time for the human race. Covid19 pandemic has put us in a unique spot in history. Never before so many nations together had ever faced a pandemic of this proportion.
Even World War 1 and 2 did not affect as many nations combined as Coronavirus has already impacted in 2020.
The economic impact of Coronavirus has been overwhelming, as well. Stock exchanges all over have come down crashing.
Stock markets where shares in companies are bought and sold are experiencing big shifts. This can affect many investments in pensions or individual savings accounts.
Many countries have imposed lockdown and travel restrictions. This has forced organizations to look out for new solutions to maintain business continuity.
This lockdown is a unique situation for these organizations. Many employees wouldn't have heard about terms like remote work, telecommuting, and social distancing, etc. before.
Getting them ready for a new form of work style is a massive challenge in itself.
Many of these affected industries have a considerable impact on our lives. Education, health, and services industries are some critical ones facing the heat right now.
Industry Impact of CoronaVirus and Need of The Hour
The education sector has seen a drastic impact due to the shutdown of schools, colleges, and universities.
These nationwide closures are impacting over 89% of the world's student population according to Unesco.
There is an immediate need for solutions for students, teachers, and parents.
Solutions that can enable teachers to conduct their classes. Solutions that do not compromise on privacy are simple to use and also don't involve a longer learning curve.
Even the travel and tourism industry, which is the most affected by this Covid19 outbreak, needs new and innovative technology solutions.
In an impact assessment of the coronavirus pandemic, CII Tourism Committee said inbound foreign tourism of over USD 28 billion in value terms accounts for an average 60-65 percent between October to March.
(Source: Economic Times)
The industry needs solutions that can help the workforce to adapt to the changing environment and needs. Otherwise, it is going to be very tough for the industry to come out of it.
These technology solutions need to act as a quick fix. Solutions that can enable entire communities to switch swiftly and conduct their business like before.
Overcoming The Crisis and The Way Forward
To get life moving again, we need innovative ideas, businesses, and startups to emerge. After all, as someone has said, "This too will pass," and we need to be ready to rebuild and be back on our feet fast.
Organizations are adapting to the current environment and the shift towards a remote way of working. The top challenges organizations need to address for their employees include.
- Safety and health
- Digital preparedness
- Active engagement
Technology is helping the remote working community with all the above aspects.
A just-released app Covid Symptom Tracker on the app store tracks the symptoms of Covid-19 in the UK. It has become one of the most popular apps in these times and has crossed 1 Million downloads in a short period of time.
There is another crowdsourcing app Opendemic. It allows users to anonymously share their locations and COVID-19 status to receive alerts about other nearby cases. Crowdsourcing app aims to fill gaps in coronavirus data.
An app called Rivers is enabling workers to connect and work together from the comfort of their homes.
The unique thing about this app is you can start being productive in less than a minute, and you don't need to share your phone number, etc. to work with your team.
It's also worth mentioning that they have extended their freemium offering with premium features to everyone for at least the next three months.
You can know more about it here: Rivers: Safe, Social Collaboration for Remote Workers.
A unique solution in the form of a care package for WAH (Work at home) workers also recently made its debut.WFH Care Package: Work From Home Care Package.
Using it, organizations can send their employees a Work From Home Care Package. This can help boost their morale and reduce stress.
Healthtech solutions like WFH Care Package can help people, organizations, and government entities. They can be better prepared and be decisive while we get through this crisis.
There is another app called Houseparty, which has gained in popularity. It's a viral video chat app that's helping people socialize remotely during the times of social distancing.
Houseparty raked in 2m downloads worldwide last week. It ranks at number one in the Apple app store in 17 countries including the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy.
If you are fond of cooking or want to pick up a new hobby while you also help people in need, you can check out: Learn From A Chef: Online Cooking Classes. It is a platform for chefs. Talented chefs are affected by COVID-19 restaurant closures.
You can take online cooking classes taught by renowned chefs. All proceeds go to the chefs.
Many remote workers are also facing anxiety, depression, and stress during this lockdown. Technology is coming in handy here as well.
A recently launched app/bot acts as your digital coach to deal with Coronavirus anxiety. It's called PocketCoach. You can Chat with Pocketcoach digital coach about Corona Virus!
For remote workers, many more technology solutions are directly or indirectly available for their help.
A few others worth mentioning are:
Google has come up with a pilot program The Project Baseline to help with the secure collection and storage of medical information related to Covid19. The program is already live in California.
Nvidia has asked PC gamers to use their powerful gaming PCs to help with the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
Gamers can donate unused GPU clock cycles to help improve the researcher's knowledge of Coronavirus.
Technology is going to play a pivotal role in getting us through this pandemic fast.
Doctors and scientists are conducting studies utilizing Artificial intelligence and Machine learning.
They are trying to understand how this Coronavirus functions. This will further help them create health-tech solutions and find a cure soon.
Till that time, stay safe and healthy, practice social distancing. But also, stay connected and stay positive.
And, to all the technology professionals and healthcare workers working day and night for us. A big Thank you.
