During these unprecedented times of the COVID-19 outbreak, technology is playing an important role in helping to make our society functional again. In fact, for many people, technology offers a ray of hope during the disheartening lockdowns and quarantines.

Many businesses have started shifting to online platforms due to the need to maintain social distancing. Moreover, the development of high-tech software programs has led to an increase in digital interconnectedness, which is proving useful in this cyber-first world.

In this post, we’ll discuss how traditional non-tech industries have dramatically shifted their procedures to incorporate the use of software, how they have responded to this shift, and in what ways these dramatic shifts might be carried into the future once the pandemic subsides.

Infiltration of Software into Traditionally Non-Tech Industries

To keep business and institutions going during COVID-19, organizations have started moving to software that offers features such as videoconferencing, virtual classrooms, and other important simultaneous digital activities.

Below are some of the business services and operations that have shifted to rely completely on software. Let's dive in.

1.  Education Sector

Around 191 countries shut down their schools and colleges in the mid of April, thus impacting over 2 billion students around the world. To continue the process of teaching-learning, and to avoid the violation of social distancing and quarantine norms, many educational institutions started offering online classes for their students.

Software applications that are now used by teachers and students for online classrooms include various crucial technologies such as augmented reality, 3D printing, AI-enabled robot teachers, online board options, virtual reality, and more.

The concept of taking online classes has introduced a paradigm shift in teaching-learning styles and changed the traditional classroom teaching concept with innovative and adaptive strategies.

Since the lockdown, a number of schools have launched their own teaching software applications, which incorporates an integrated learning management system. These systems offer options to post, correct, and return assignments.

How have they responded to this shift?

Most schools and colleges have responded well to online teaching-learning methods and examination processes, but the schools which never had ICT (Information & Communication Technology) on their premises (or had a lower budget for the same) have found it hard to respond to such a big shift. Teachers, likewise, often require various online training sessions before implementing the concept of virtual classes, and they have radically modified the ways that they communicate and interact with the students.

Some of the best virtual classroom software programs that are used by teachers in 2020 are:

· Newrow Smart: Newrow is a leading video collaboration platform being widely used by institutes and universities to help students across the globe.

· Vedamo: Vedamo is an interactive web conferencing tool that allows educators to teach students.

· BigBlueButton: It’s an open-source application that enables teachers to engage and collaborate with their students online via audio, chat, and video.

· LearnCube: LearnCube offers state-of-the-art virtual classrooms with all the right tools of a physical classroom in a digital environment.

· Electa Live: Electa Live is Virtual Classroom Software and a Learning Management System, widely used for online teaching and training by schools and universities.

· Adobe Connect: It is a comprehensive suite of software being used for desktop sharing, remote training, web conferencing, and presentations.

· WizIQ: It is a leading cloud-based education platform to access teaching and training modules through desktops and mobile devices.

Future Predictions

The above-mentioned software is intelligently designed while keeping in mind the needs of teachers and students.

But have you ever wondered what will happen when COVID-19 subsides or is completely gone?

Here are some likely outcomes:

  • The blending of the physical classroom teaching system and online classrooms will gain popularity in those countries where online teaching is not a preferred choice.
  • Teachers and professors will need to be trained to adapt to online teaching processes. In order to do so, a big shift might be seen in the curriculum of the teacher-training courses in various countries.
  • Educational institutions will focus more on investing in the digitalization of the educational processes. As a result, they will have rich technological infrastructures to provide advanced educational services to their students.

2.  Healthcare Sector

A cursory glance at history reveals that software programs have been very helpful in tracking and treating viruses and various other diseases. One of the recent examples is the flu tracking in 2018 in the United States of America.

But COVID-19 has brought a tremendous shift in the way medical processes are operated daily. There is a rise in the use of software that exhibits chatbot helpers, EHR guidance tools, digital epidemiology tools, telemedicine, and other features. When COVID-19 was at its peak in China, the country developed AI-powered robots to distribute medicines and other supplies to patients.

How have they responded to this shift?

The medical sector has responded to this big shift by embracing both telehealth and telemedicine. Thousands of doctors have brought their clinics online with the help of various software applications so that patients can easily connect with them and keep their treatments going on.

From plasma donations to finding patients for clinical trials, everything has proceeded by the use of some advanced software applications. Non-essential procedures have been delayed, and diagnoses are increasingly made over video calls. Some surgeries are even conducted entirely via robotic implements.

Future Predictions

In the future, more advanced software programs and technologies will replace traditional processes in the medical field. COVID-19 has shown us the weakness of our healthcare systems and the need for a technology upgrade. In particular, the legacy systems that power on-site health care may be in the crosshairs for upgrades and integrations to facilitate more modern approaches.

It must also be noted that our healthcare systems are not ready to face the next pandemic. Additional innovation and adoption will be necessary to institute appropriate measures for tracing and isolating outbreaks of novel diseases. It is highly likely that all countries will make more investments in the healthcare sector so that the next pandemic could be less disastrous.

3.  Teleworking

Owing to social distancing norms, various companies have asked their employees to work safely from their homes. Many software programs are designed for remote working to keep businesses or institutions operating as usual. Nowadays, remote working software programs are equipped with various important tools such as virtual meetings, virtual private networks (VPNs), cloud technology, Voice Over Internet Protocols (VoIP), and work collaboration tools.

How have they responded to this shift?

While shifting from a traditional office-place concept to the remote work concept, organizations or businesses have faced several challenges. Both employees and employers have ben greatly affected by increased discrepancies and complications in their daily operations as a result of shifting to remote working software programs. Some find it hard to collaborate with the team over video conferencing because it's easier to resolve issues when we are physically present in front of a person.

Software applications, however, have now upgraded their features to enable teams to collaborate in ways that they are most comfortable with. They've also increased their security standards to prevent the loss or mishandling of precious data. An increasing number of forward-thinking companies like Crowdbotics have been working remotely since before the pandemic, which has ensured that COVID-19 has had minimal impact on their operations.

Future Predictions

The future of jobs after the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to be a mix of remote working and working in physical office spaces. If remote working will become common after the pandemic, then the need for joining a nearby workplace will hardly be a consideration for an employee. Employers may hire people from other areas at cheaper costs, and the job seekers will have a vast opportunity to work even if they are miles away from their actual workplace.

4. Supply Chain Industry

One of the greatest disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic is on the global supply chain. The moment China shut down its factories and ordered its citizens to work from home, the smooth flow of vital products and services to the entire world was stopped. This unexpected disruption created a tremendous shock wave around the world, and soon the pandemic began to spread from China to other countries.

Some countries banned the import and export of items. Only essential items and services such as food and medical facilities were available for the citizens, and the production related to these industries ramped up to a very large scale. Other businesses, such as cosmetic factories, garment industry, travel industry, mobile manufacturing companies, etc. faced a huge drop in terms of revenue generation.

How have they responded to this shift?

The supply chain industry is gradually shifting from traditional processes to more resilient ones. Prior to the pandemic, the global supply chain heavily relied on paper-based records, which exhibited various flaws, such as lack of flexibility and transparency. All these things make the global supply chain more vulnerable to the pandemic.

In such disastrous and disheartening times, technologies such as Cloud Computing, Big Data, Blockchain and Internet-of-Things (IoT) are starting to build a more resilient global supply chain in the world that is designed for the future.

Future Predictions

A flexible, visible, and resilient supply chain network can weather times of stress and quickly adapt to tough circumstances. If this change continues, one can imagine the amount of durability and efficiency of such a system. System redundancies, automated shipping, end-to-end inventory tracking, and robust production protocols for essential goods can all increase the supply chain's resilience.

The whole world has experienced a significant loss in the global supply chain system. Thus, a more resilient supply chain can mitigate losses if another pandemic were to strike.

Final Thoughts

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned most businesses upside-down. It has changed the way businesses, institutions, and organizations operate on a daily basis.

With the help of high-tech software applications, many enterprises have been able to continue with their daily business processes and generate enough revenue to survive this pandemic.

Although we have faced many challenges, the software world has really transformed our ways of working and living in COVID-19.

If you are a business owner looking to leverage technology to run your business, feel free to reach out to Crowdbotics. Our experts are ready to build custom software to help you successfully navigate the turbulence of this pandemic.