Initiatives of corporates worldwide
The need for economic recovery has pressed businesses and governments globally to devise innovative strategies to enhance productivity and design an effective economic recovery plan. This blog aims to spotlight the initiatives of corporates worldwide
Innovative Recovery Strategies
§ Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has harnessed its expertise to build a COVID-19 patient tracker in collaboration with pharmaceutical and medical institutions. This has helped in creating a quick and light platform for clinical trial systems to expedite the collation of effectiveness data. The company has also aided drug molecule discovery using its patented technology and frameworks while also exploring promising ideas for effective and affordable ventilators and kits. Another feather in its cap is the TCS iON Digital Glass Room. It is a mobile and web education platform for schools and colleges that enables educators to engage with students in real-time by sharing videos, worksheets, lessons, assignments, and assessments.
§ Distilleries across the US and Europe have been supplementing their usual product ranges of rum and whiskey with hand sanitizers. For example, the Scottish brewery BrewDog has started production of hand sanitizer, while the French drinks company Pernod Ricard is donating pure alcohol.
§ In the pharma sector, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche intends to get out on a weekly basis, at least 400,000 CoVID test kits that can then be shipped to the US. Pfizer is in the process of evaluating an antiviral compound – a 'protease inhibitor' identified by Pfizer scientists, as a treatment for COVID-19. Similarly, most of the major players in the sector have invested in the R&D and production of CoVID vaccines.
§ The manufacturing sector has taken a huge hit amidst the pandemic and has been forced to halt production. However, Vauxhall Motors has stepped in to assemble ventilators and other big names have followed suit by getting into the making of medical equipment, bringing back to life their idle production units.
§ The French luxury conglomerate – LVMH has ventured into the hand sanitizer sector to gap the difference in the demand and supply of the same.
§ In the travel and accommodation sector, Airbnb paved way for new strategies that included a focus on long-term stays. This is owing to the fact that people are desperately looking to get away from crowded places and manage work-from-home from less crowded locations. Thus, creating opportunities amidst the CoVID-induced recession in the sector.
§ In the retail sector, Walmart has reported an eye-popping rise in sales by 74% owing to its decision to lean in on its e-commerce platform. Especially, during the pandemic, when people prefer online shopping and doorstep deliveries, retailers who have not yet embarked on their digital journey must consider this as a crucial and non-delayable change in the business model.
§ A novel effort by a company in Tanzania – Zaidi Recyclers that usually recycle waste paper and exports it to mills, has now been transforming waste plastic bottles into face shields that are being widely used in hospitals too.
§ As part of a wide-ranging response, the World Economic Forum – an international organization for Public-Private Cooperation, launched its Great Reset initiative -- a joint effort to urgently build the foundations of the global economic and social system for a fairer, more sustainable and more resilient future post-CoVID.
§ A CoVID-19 Trade Facilitation Repository has been formed which is a joint effort by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Customs Organization (WCO), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Commonwealth Small States Office in Geneva, the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation and the International Trade Centre (ITC). It focuses on consolidating information, actions, and initiatives adopted by key stakeholders to facilitate trade during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes empowering the policymakers and trade operators with a thorough overview of useful resources and a place to exchange best practices through a common database.
One of the most unique and heartening show of solidarity that is worth mentioning – In a bid to help India, around 40 CEOs of American companies have partnered to mobilize critical resources like oxygen concentrators into India.
These recovery facts are just the tip of the iceberg. There are infinite (if I may say) number of initiatives and efforts invested by all organizations, small and big in deflecting the damages incurred by the pandemic and upholding the global economy for the benefit of all – irrespective of the geography or industrial sector.
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