How Coronavirus affected the IT or Technology Sector?

It is a fact that the IT or technology sector continues to feel the impact made by coronavirus at present. The global supply chains had been disrupted by the initial coronavirus outbreak in China. However, the outbreak has become a global pandemic right now and there are in excess of 3,308,643 + confirmed cases across the globe at the present moment. As a result, the consequences have turned to be less predictable and more far-reaching.

Mobile World Congress had to be canceled because of the efforts for containment. An increasing number of employees have been requested to function remotely, and the industry is now facing the prospect of missed partnership opportunities and delayed initiatives.

Below we have mentioned some significant ways in which the IT industry has been affected by coronavirus right now.

1. Supply chains have been disrupted

It is a fact that coronavirus had its origin in China and the region has been badly affected since the disease has been contracted by many citizens out there. A lot of them were compelled into quarantine. For this reason, many factories and plants have been shut down either fully or partially. Interestingly, notable technology companies were using these factories and plants for manufacturing their products. For instance, shortages have been experienced by Apple when it comes to its iPhone supply because of the partial shutdown of Foxconn, the primary manufacturer of the company’s products in China.

As per estimates made by Ming-Chi Kuo, the Apple analyst, this would result in a considerably minimized forecast in iPhone shipments by means of Q1. While businesses usually come with contingency plans that are focused on increasing production in a particular area which is not affected, it will be really difficult to predict which areas are going to be least affected due to the quick spread of the virus throughout the world.

In spite of this, the resources and momentum of the economy in China are not going to be replicated easily. In fact, the government has already invested a considerable amount of money in advanced manufacturing sectors such as semiconductors and telecommunications equipment.

2. Some important tech conferences have been canceled leading to missed partnership opportunities

The MWC (Mobile World Congress) was set to be held in Barcelona on February 24-27 and it had been canceled because of the concerns over coronavirus. MWC is responsible for bringing together the most notable businesses in the area to share innovations, network, and set up innovative business partnerships. Although the events planned for MWC had been rescheduled by a number of companies, these had to be canceled because of the virus threat.

Apart from MWC, Global Marketing Submit as well as the F8 Developer Conference has been canceled by Facebook while the Google Cloud Next event has been shifted by Google to online only. Moreover, IBM was forced to livestream the conference of his developer which hosted in excess of 30,000 attendees the previous year. As a whole, more than $1 billion of direct economic losses have been incurred by the cancellation of these tech events at present.

It will not be possible for the conference attendees to have similar opportunities to network by means of livestreaming as done by them while appearing in in-person events. For example, marketers will find it difficult to share the best practices casually over the Global Marketing Summit of Facebook which is livestreamed as compared to what it would have been in case the event took place in Realty. One will feel the effects all through the affected industries despite the fact that it will be tough to quantify the valuation of all these informal network sessions or chance encounters.

3. The enhanced requirement for remote interactions has showcased a requirement for 5G technology

The almost-instantaneous communications, lightning-fast speeds, as well as enhanced connection density helps to make 5G appropriate for any remote interaction and this has come into the mind of many enterprise IT solutions and organizations at present. Teleconferencing and telehealth are the couple of notable areas which have become significant for the enterprise operations and we are of the notion that the appeal of 5G will be strengthened by the enhanced dependence on all these areas.

Teleconferencing

A lot of employers have become more dependable on the enterprise teleconferencing tools like Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft Teams at present since their workers like to work remotely because of public health issues. It is expected by us that the dependence of the employers on these tools at the time of the pandemic will help to fortify 5G’s case in the residence at this time. The reason for this is that it will be possible for a 5G connection to offer uninterrupted and real-time communication as compared to the majority of the wired connections at present.

Telehealth

It will be possible for the physical practitioners to treat their patients without any need to be close to them physically. Such situations have already been seen in use for combating coronavirus in China. Telecoms China Telecom and ZTE designed an innovative 5G-powered device in the month of January which allowed remote diagnoses of coronavirus and treat infected patients in that manner. Many hospitals are expected to make use of 5G in the near future for treating patients successfully.

4. Possible cases of VR (virtual reality) could be highlighted by the coronavirus in enterprises does boosting the uptake of technology

There are many companies outsourcing IT services at present and the coronavirus pandemic has caused notable technology companies to recommend their employees to work from home. Although this appears to be the most risk-free course of action at this time, it definitely prevents collaborative opportunities as well as efforts for hands-on training. While these backlogs become increasingly clear, companies will try to find methods to smooth disruptions for workers and one such way is going to be VR.

Although VR has already been identified by many companies as an appropriate tool for enhancing training of the staff, the coronavirus might be the motivation for some companies to apply this technology. As per a survey made by Perkins Coie, approximately 49% of the business respondents have the intention of using VR at present. This tool will help the employees to indulge in hands-on tutorials and hone their skills as well.

For example, it will be possible for any technician to practice fixing industrial apparatus without any need to leave his or her residence. Apart from this, it would also be possible to hold an increasing number of meetings by means of VR app development technology which will help the workers to view as well as share complicated ideas in a superior manner just like the prototype designs.

5. Investment will continue to grow in smart city solutions

Smart city technology has been used by cities across the globe for mitigating the impact made by coronavirus. Drones are used by the Chinese police along with thermal sensors for identifying individuals having a fever in the public. A smartphone app was developed by the South Korean government which enables self-quarantined people to come in contact with caseworkers for getting better treatment and also asking queries that might arise. A chatbot had been introduced by the Australian government for addressing the questions posted by the citizens and also suppressing any spreading of misinformation.

The majority of the smart city solutions are meant to support the daily operations of any particular city. However, that basic infrastructure – whether it is a surveillance system, citizen communication platform, or city-wide connectivity – can be modified for satisfying the requirements of the government during a crisis period, as demonstrated by the corona virus.

It has been estimated by Business Insider that smart city investment is going to get to $295 billion by the year 2025 from $130 billion dollars in the year 2020. In case smart city solutions are able to mitigate the pandemic, governments might feel much more certainty investigating further which might speed up the rate at which solutions are deployed by them.