COVID-19 has brought the entire world to a standstill, with its fast-spreading trait and 20% fatality rate. The biggest effect of this pandemic has been on our economy as all the sectors have been shut down and there is absolutely no manufacturing, no launches and people are only buying the essentials.
The biggest question is, what will be the future of the country and what crisis will arise due to the cash crunch. Even though the government and RBI have taken several steps to make sure that the economy does not crash, the future of MSMEs and the tech industry is not very bright and they may fall.
Almost all the countries are headed towards a recession but some people are optimistic about the tech [industry. The telecom industry and the consumer technology industry can feel the impact of the lockdown already.
The global supply chains have been affected and its consequences on the economy are unpredictable for now. Since all the employees are working remotely so the initiatives have been delayed and opportunities are slipping. Even though technology has made the world come closer through video conferencing, helping the government provide accurate information, helping children study remotely, making people aware of the disease, the tech industry is still worried about their future.
Here are the ways in which COVID-19 has affected the businesses and tech industry:
Disruption of supply chains: The virus originated from China and a large number of people were forced to move into quarantine. Numerous technology companies are located in China and because of pandemic lockdown, manufacturing of the products stopped. The supply chain of companies like Apple and OnePlus has been affected to a great extent. Several businesses are facing disruption of supply chains and this has highly affected their market.
Tech Conferences: Several tech conferences have been canceled in the wake of Corona virus pandemic and numerous partnership opportunities have been missed. Mobile World Congress was scheduled to take place in Barcelona on February 24-27, and it had to be canceled. This event held great importance to the telecom industry and its cancellation led to great loss. Facebook had to cancel its F8 developer conference and Global Marketing Summit and Google’s Cloud Next event was shifted online. IBM also live-streamed its conference and all this led to more than $1 billion economic losses.
The internet is slow with dire need of the latest technology: Due to the growing use of remote interactions there is a need for 5G technology in the long term. 5G connection promises to provide lightning-fast speeds, better connectivity, and instantaneous communications, so it is really required in today’s dark times. Every enterprise today requires tele conferencing through tools like Google Hangouts, Zoom, Skype and Microsoft teams for better operations during the pandemic and with 5G technology in communication, the communication will be better.
Remote working: The employees of multinational companies are working remotely now as it is the need of the hour to keep everyone safe. VR is the new future for the companies as it can help improve employee training, and different types of meetings can be held online. Several business respondents have started using VR and other tools to keep their businesses up and running.
Use of Smart city solutions: Smart city solutions will be the need of the hour to mitigate the impact of corona virus. Many countries are already making use of this technology and some cities of India have also used surveillance systems, drones, etc. to keep an eye on the people so that they stay indoors. Smart city investment will be quite large but it can help mitigate the pandemic.
Meetings are shifting to electronic: Business travel has been banned for all employees so the business meetings are replaced by video calls. Better video conferencing equipment will be required in the future with higher bandwidth connections so that video communication is better and more powerful. Companies and businesses that can function online need to increase video conferencing and attend professional conferences virtually. Due to this bandwidth consumption will increase and VPN data will skyrocket.
The travel industry is highly affected: Travelling anywhere is impossible in today’s time and companies have banned business travels for the time being. The aviation industry, Hotel industry, the travel industry, and tourist places are the most affected ones as there is no business for them.
Need for more cyber security: Since more people are working from home now, there will be more malware attacks and cyber security breaches. You can receive phishing emails that may contain malicious software. There is a need for more security with firewall protection, antivirus threats and other security features that require authentication in order to lower the malware risks.
Innovative opportunities: The tech sector is getting new business opportunities as most of the businesses are using technological solutions during this crisis. Tech sector tools that aid remote working, robotics, and tele health are highly in demand. This is the time when these companies can spike up their innovation that can be used, even after corona pandemic.
New challenges for the company’s economy: the country is experiencing a slowdown in growth as the cash flow of the companies has been affected. The businesses and manufacturing units are on standstill and they have overheads to pay. There has been a direct impact on demand and supply of goods and they have expenses like employees, interests, taxes, electricity bills and loan payments.
All we can hope is that the situation improves soon and the economy of the country does not go down further. Waiting for good times ahead, when the world will heal and businesses will start booming. Do let us know your intake on same.
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