Post COVID-19 world with Internet of Things (IoT) and Digitization

In the last ninety days because of COVID-19, we have had the deepest touch to humanity and earnest desire on how we can work for the betterment of society. My sincere sympathies to people who are suffering in various ways - for life and livelihood. My respect to front line workers from doctors to public servants has grown exponentially. 

Within my areas of technical expertise, I started thinking about how we can learn from the situation and apply technology/ specifically Internet of Things (IoT) to be better prepared. Coincidentally, some of the value propositions IoT and digitization have been pursuing for years are well aligned with what COVID has exposed the need for.

Here are the 3 main learnings from COVID, with a direct relevance to how IoT can be leveraged across different facets of life. Post COVID world could be the trigger IoT has needed to cross the chasm.

Data is foundational. Real Time is critical : 

Every private and public organization is relying on data to help with their plan of action. From monitoring people for their temperature/symptoms to product operations, data has proven to be critical. From knowing when to close doors to being smart on when to open doors is reliant on data. Getting information has not been as easy as many took for granted. Not everything is measurable, not everything is connected. 

We have learnt that having relevant data/information a week earlier, a day earlier or even hours earlier can potentially save lives. Waiting for days to know if someone tested positive or not, can be a matter of life and death not just to the person but people around them. Body scanners to have real time information and identification of symptomatic people have gained increased attention. On another front, the supply chain has taken a hit with shelter at home. Knowledge into real time supply chain information can help balance supply and demand.

Remote improves efficiency :

Being able to remotely accomplish tasks has shown to be a blessing in disguise and in many cases brought a multi fold increase in efficiency. The education system hoped they were better prepared for remote education and healthcare systems grappled to deal with remote diagnosis. Stories like millions of tons of vegetables/food being trashed due to lack of physical labor or factories shut because there was no one to operate or having peace of mind that your elderly parents are safe, remind us how ‘remote’ could add economic and human value. With shelter in place, people who could not work remotely, hoped they were equipped and for those who could work remotely, learnt how working remotely improved efficiency. 

Automation brings in optimization :

One of the biggest takeaways from COVID has been the need for ‘social distancing’, ‘hands free’ operations. Common surface areas like machines, door knobs etc. have shown to be big sources of spreading infections. Remote operations improve efficiency but automation takes it to the next level of optimization. As a result of COVID, one of the examples of automation is hotels starting to think about how room doors can be automated for contactless and touch-free access. 

All the above aspects, from gathering real time data from sources that were not connected earlier, making sure things are operated remotely to optimizing with automation is the 3 legged stool on which IoT is built. As we come out of this COVID situation, the economy might take a few years to stabilize but I sincerely hope we take these lessons and apply technology across every vertical so that the world is better prepared. 

Stay safe everyone…..