Virtualization: The Influence of 2020 Digitalization upon Industries (2022)

Because of the pandemic, the year 2020 saw unprecedented levels of digitalization. We describe the most affected industries, how they coped, the benefits and challenges revealed, and provide projections for 2021 and beyond. Spoiler: significant changes will continue into the post-Covid era.

CONTENTS

• Digitization vs. Digitalization: the difference
• Education
• Healthcare
• Transportation
• Top 5 Next Industries to Digitize in 2021

Before the Covid limitations, there was already a movement toward digitization. It grew exponentially as a result of the crisis. According to a new McKinsey Global Survey, the pandemic has expedited digitalization of consumer contacts by 3–4 years and boosted partially or completely digitized products and services by 6–10+ years depending on location.

When key internal processes (back-office, production, R&D) are routinely digitilized across industries and geographies, customer-facing changes are particularly apparent in healthcare and pharmaceutical, education, transportation, and professional services. The same industries are expected to change at a rapid pace in the future. Let’s explore their cases to get a better idea of what 2021 has in store for us.

Digitization vs. Digitalization: difference

Digitization is known as the analog-to-digital conversion of data and processes (for instance, we can digitize documents or photos by scanning).

Digitalization is on a higher level. It includes utilizing digital technology to modify corporate operations (for instance, through automation, accessibility, data analysis).

Education

The education field has implemented digitalization before Covid (e.g., 7 million undergrads were studying online in America). However, the pace was really slow. When nearly 1.2 billion children didn’t take classes from school in 186 countries, the system had to be modified at once. According to some analysts, the global adoption of EdTech in schools and universities has been expedited by roughly five years.

Cases

Web platforms. Microsoft Education, Google Classroom, and other conferencing software, like Zoom, are obviously on the upswing.

Remote learning resources are rapidly provided by governments (“Ensuring learning undisrupted” in China, “My class at home” in France, etc.)

Social media, applications, and video games. TikTok’s explosion of instructional material is one example.

Online learning platforms had meaningful increases in enrollments (425% for Udemy). Many of them offered free access throughout the lockdown and introduced platforms for digitization of university courses (like Coursera’s CourseMatch).

Big Tech companies also pitched in, as an example, Google’s free enhanced Hangouts capabilities and Microsoft’s free Teams platform.

Universities hastened digitization. Zhejiang University, for example, digitized over 5,000 courses in only two weeks.

Constraints

The digital gap. 465 million children and teens worldwide (47 percent of those targeted by national online learning platforms) do not have a home Internet connection.

School interconnection. The inability to select school locations, the budget for their connectivity, and the fear of adoption are among the major difficulties here.

The shortage of ICT expertise among teachers and parents. 35% of teenagers attend schools where teachers lack the pedagogical and technical abilities to use digital technologies.

Security. With more connectivity comes an increased danger of cyberbullying and offensive content, including the most severe kinds of abuse.

Effectiveness. Younger children require a structured environment in order to learn well. Teachers must utilize techniques of cooperation and engagement, such as games, to engage students.

Health. Young children have been exposed to double the amount of screen time that physicians suggest. Lectures should be kept to a minimum and supplemented with non-digital activities.

Socialization. Face-to-face interaction is preferred by elementary students.

Pros of EdTech digitalization

• The increasing number of EdTech tools;
• The teaching method has shifted toward customization and independence;
• Online learning can be more productive (students remember 25–60% more content);
• Potential improvements in the outmoded educational structure;
• More accessible education around the world.

Future trends for EdTech

• Hybrid learning environment. Education will be more adaptable and comprehensive.
• Changes are here to stay. Teachers and institutions have invested much in digitization and will most certainly continue to do so after the crisis.
• More investments. Primarily from Microsoft and Google.
• More attention. Governments can now see the impact of education and its direct relationship to economic recovery; therefore, further measures to assist the industry are likely.

Healthcare

Only 2–7% of doctors were prepared to give video consultations before the pandemic, and now, it’s closer to 60% percent. Following such a great breakthrough, there is a pretty good chance that healthcare technology will continue to expand once the crisis has passed.

Cases

Telemedicine. PlushCare, a telemedicine firm, had a 40% spike in appointments a month before the first case was recorded in the US. Today, startups like ICU4Covid can assist intensive care in hospitals lacking specialists. Not to mention chatbots and virtual health assistants, whose markets are expected to triple almost by 2023.

Remote healthcare & wearable devices. By 2023, the wearable medical device market is estimated to be worth $27 million. Heart rate sensors, exercise trackers, oximeters, and other devices are among the goods. They could save the healthcare system close to $7 billion per year (in the US). Not to mention the tracking and remote monitoring of Covid patients, which is utilized in various countries.

Industry of mental health and fitness. Investments in mental health companies surged by more than 400% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the previous quarter. Fitness apps, trackers, and online sessions all saw an increase. In one week, for example, daily sign-ups for NEOU (a fitness streaming platform) increased by 600%.

Challenges

Access and administration. There was an increase in remote healthcare in a short period, but it is constrained and unbalanced when addressing all populations and providing an actual seamless experience.

Legislation. In a 2019 PwC research, 94% of executives cited data protection and privacy rules (HIPAA, HITECH) as a barrier to digitization. They are strict and out of date. Governments have removed some restrictions in response to the pandemic (for example, allowing Apple, Google, and Microsoft to provide telemedicine through chat and video applications), but these are only temporary solutions.

Pros of healthcare digitalization

• better improved patient experiences;
• the increase of preventive medicine and artificial intelligence-powered diagnostics;
• higher level of inclusion for the most vulnerable people;
• preparation for any future worldwide crisis;
• considerable cost contraction and time savings.

Future of healthcare

• Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data for customized and preventative care, lower mistake rates, drug development, more accurate staffing, medical imaging, genomics, and so on.
• Healthcare will become more convenient due to on-demand features and the “gig” economy (e. g., some online marketplaces like Nomad Health).
• VR as a safer, more productive alternative to medicines, a way of sharpening doctors’ skills or planning procedures.
• Blockchain for data protection.
• Robotics and nanotechnologies to improve further.
• 5G to make it a reality. The technology fueling IoT may run up to 100 times quicker, resulting in savings of up to $650 billion in four years.

Transportation

The pandemic had a significant impact on logistics, public transportation, and procurement. They were also among the most technologically digitalized. How? Let’s take a closer look.

Cases

Payments. Solutions for cashless transactions have gained popularity.

Data. Monitoring and controlling mobility patterns is made possible by anonymized data from devices, automatic fare collecting systems, and certain private firms (Swiftly, GIRO, and so on).

MaaS. “Mobility as a Service” is a new method that was highly beneficial during the epidemic. Aggregator applications, for example, enable the planning of routes that meet social distancing criteria. Mobility systems like ride-hailing, as well as microservices such as bike share, have responded to the crisis by offering free transportation to critical employees and the most vulnerable.

Delivery services. In what way to set up an e-commerce site is a frequent question these days. With such a spike in e-tail demand, delivery services work hard to expand and adapt (provide discounts, “contactless” choices, etc.).

Post offices provide digital technologies such as mobile and POS kiosks to increase productivity and reduce human interaction. They also test drone and robot delivery methods.

International trade. Because of the pandemic, 76 percent of logistics experts indicated they would invest in technology. It comprises remote worker setup, document digitization, and business process automation. It lowers costs and risks, increases efficiency, and adds transparency. Leading corporations, such as P&G, develop their own programs. Smaller businesses use modern SaaS technologies to build no-code business apps. To get the best value-for-money, some companies outsource software development and hire professional engineers.

IoT. The logistics sector is primed for digitization, with numerous fast-growing tech startups attempting to enhance efficiency through IoT. (e. g., Transmetrics is a startup solving the problem of half of the transports not carrying cargo after delivery).

Challenges

According to Deloitte, supply chain leaders mentioned a lack of money, strategy, and governance as their key concerns.

Pros of transportation digitization

The benefits of transportation digitization include

• unprecedented and massive fiscal and monetary stimulus packages;
• forced reforms that will benefit the sector in the long run.

Future of transportation

• Data analysis will fuel the emerging “intelligent mobility” market;
• Public transport apps will be full of many new functions;
• Connected vehicles, drones, and other devices will develop into “smart cities”;
• Digitalizing roads will become possible with automated traffic control systems, etc.

Top-5 next industries to digitalize in 2021

• Insurance;
• Financial services;
• Manufacturing;
• Energy;
• Fashion.

Summary

There is no turning back; digitalization is already everywhere. The pandemic has made its contribution to our reality. If you want to seize the opportunities, for example, create an application, launch a startup or start an e-commerce business, you should hire professionals to increase your chances of success.

Originally published at https://triare.net.