How The Global COVID-19 Pandemic Stimulated Digital Innovation

Approximately one and a half years since the start of the global COVID-19 outbreak, the world is still struggling to get the virus under control and get life as we knew it back on track. And although vaccinations are currently widely available, it will take a while before we can leave this extraordinary struggle behind us and return to our pre-pandemic lives. Aside from the virus’ immense impact on our daily lives, the pandemic also caused a major surge in technological innovations. From healthcare applications for the tracking of symptoms and positive cases to transport solutions bringing people to their vaccination appointments, a large number of digital solutions have emerged, showcasing the limitless potential of clever entrepreneurship and technological innovation.

COVID-19 and Technology

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a major disruption of societies on a global scale. National lockdowns resulted in the shift of consumers towards online channels, and businesses switched to a predominantly digital environment. Technologies like cloud computing and on-demand streaming platforms suddenly faced a skyrocketing demand.

Luckily, nowadays, many of us have unlimited access to online communities and the right tools to continue our jobs from any place with an internet connection. Imagine the repercussions of the pandemic on our jobs and social lives if we weren’t blessed with present-day digital solutions. The economic implications would have been much more devastating, and our mental health would’ve had to deal even more with the impact of long-term social isolation. Considering the issues we might’ve faced without the power of technology, we should be immensely grateful for the innovative minds that come up with the digital solutions we depend on. The COVID-19 pandemic proved that digital innovation should always be stimulated, as unforeseen circumstances can suddenly change our lives completely.

Besides the technologies that have already been on the market for quite some time, such as cloud computing and video conferencing apps, there has also been a surge in new types of applications, specifically targeting the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences.

Healthcare solutions

The healthcare sector has seen an immense growth in the number of digital solutions in the fight against COVID-19. Think of, for example, applications that help with contact tracing and track positive cases throughout the country, letting its users know when they’ve potentially been infected with the virus and stimulating them to book a test appointment and stay in quarantine for a specific amount of time. These healthcare solutions usually provide insights into the symptoms and the steps users need to take in case they suspect an infection. A lot of these healthcare applications are initiated by governmental institutions in order to capture insights into the spread of the virus and monitor vaccination percentages on a national and international scale.

Transport solutions

Although the transport sector wouldn’t initially be the first thing to come up when thinking about digital solutions for the coronavirus, there’s been a significant rise in digital solutions targeting the virus and its impact. Together with our clients from Transvision, we developed a web application that allows people to easily book and pay for a ride to their COVID-19 vaccination appointment. Read more about the project of VaxiTaxi here.

Besides newly developed transportation solutions, a lot of transportation organizations have invested in small additions and features to their already existing application in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus. Think of, for example, public transportation applications that allow users to reserve a spot and get insights into the peak hours of their preferred transportation routes by checking the reservation times of other travelers.

AI solutions

When it comes to recognizing trends in the spread of the coronavirus, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies are important assets. Public health sectors can use their assistance to track the spread of the coronavirus and quickly organize and implement appropriate reaction strategies. Artificial intelligence is also employed in the healthcare business to power robots and other tools that interact with patients, as human involvement should be kept to a minimum in the case of contagion.

In February of 2021, Slovenian hospitals received two of the first robots purchased by the European Commission to clean COVID-19 patient rooms, assisting in the reduction and containment of coronavirus. In hospitals in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands, a total of 29 disinfection robots have now been installed.

Next to hardware solutions, AI is also being used in the fight against fake news regarding COVID-19 and vaccinations. Smart technologies can recognize specific terms and sentences discussing fake news and conspiracy theories surrounding the corona pandemic. Big social platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter actively make use of these technologies to help prevent the spread of fake news within their communities.

Remote working & EdTech solutions

Cloud computing and video conferencing technologies are two great examples of technological lifesavers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did it allow a lot of businesses to continue their projects in their online environments and, therefore, avoid the risk of losing profit, it also allowed people to stay in touch with one another when physical visits were restricted.

Besides remote working technologies, an increasing number of educational applications gained popularity. In order to prevent children from getting behind on their school work and learning progress, many new educational applications opened their doors for students and teachers. These learning platforms are now providing free access to their services in response to the high demands. Other businesses provided a one-stop-shop for teachers and students, including unlimited video conferencing time, auto-translation and subtitling capabilities, real-time (co-)editing of online projects, smart calendar scheduling, and much more. To maintain reliable access at a time of crisis, educational institutions had to ramp up their global server infrastructures and IT capabilities in order to keep up with the high demands, showcasing the importance of high-level scalability in application development.

COVID-19 and Lizard Global

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Lizard Global has quickly and efficiently shifted towards a new way of working. Because most of our workflows and development processes already ran on cloud services, there wasn’t a big shift to make. However, as a highly cross-functional and agile team, it’s essential that we’re continuously up-to-date with the statuses and backlogs of our projects statuses of our team members. Frequent meetings and the implementation of project management and agile development planning tools such as Asana and ClickUp make sure that our Rotterdam and Kuala Lumpur team are always aligned.

We strive to continuously add value for our customers, pandemic or not. And what’s more rewarding than being able to contribute to the development of digital solutions that help the people around us through a once-in-a-lifetime difficult situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Are you still looking for a digital partner for the development of your digital solution? We’d love to hear from you! Get in touch with us via WhatsApp and our social media channels, or give us a call. Let’s get to work!