Everyone around the world has to adapt and deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. As I always mention, technology plays an important role for us in many areas such as solving problems, creating new business models, and new norms that we have to get familiar with. Although this pandemic will become better, we can’t live as normal as we used to. The New Normal is the new practice for the “adaptive to change” type of person.
Redefined the words of home
Everyone has to stay home because of the Social Distancing policy. Nowadays, we stay home not only for taking rest; but working, learning, and working out. Therefore, the internet, basic infrastructure and equipment such as computers, smart devices, and the Internet of Things are the most important things that we need to prepare so that we can do those activities at home successfully and efficiently. Some organizations never thought about work from home before, but now they need to consider letting their employees work from home because we never know when this crisis could end. Government and private sectors should plan a budget aiming to support WFH policy for working & learning efficiently.
Online service competition
Online shopping is nothing new. Due to the increase of online customers, it’s a good chance for business owners to collect the customer’s behavior data. In this situation, chatbot services are a good solution that should be concerned by business owners in order to serve all customers’ needs. Nowadays, chatbots are continuously developed to serve the customers in many fields of business which are more stable, accurate and clever. Besides, online payment is one of the new practices for contactless activity. So, we should have various applications to support online payment processes that are required of each store where we purchase their services and products.
Online dating
Restaurants set 1 table per customer. The cinemas continue to stay closed. Department stores suggest customers keep a distance of 1.5-2 meters while shopping. All the practices I have mentioned makes it more complicated and harder for couples who want to spend time together outdoors. Reports state, before COVID-19 there were only 6% of singles who used video calls to speak to their date. Now, there are 69% of people who use video calls to talk with their date. Therefore, we may see new features developed to serve this target group based on the new normal.
Telehealth
People may consider going out when it comes to a necessary situation. Even seeing the doctor, we can be at home. Unless there are some limitations, but many medical organizations are trying to turn their business to online practice. In the USA, they have developed Electronic Stethoscopes which can record and share the voice of heart beating and human breathing for doctor diagnosis. In the near future, we may see the development of Handheld Examination Kits which connect doctor and patient closely while keeping distance.
Online event
Seminars, new product launching, concerts, weddings, and other events will change to Virtual Meetings or Webinars because of the social distancing policy. However, there are some obstacles and limitations such as the feeling of participation, or how to get the connection if every event turns into an online platform. With these points, organizers should create an avatar to enhance the feeling of participation from participants and to create the real atmosphere with virtual reality technology.
The New Normal as I have mentioned above, happened by being technology driven. The most important skill is to be “open” to learn, to get familiar, and to adapt to change. If we still live our lives the same way (Pre-COVID19), we may be the cause of the virus spreading. It of course will take time to get familiar, but eventually everyone can live in the New Normal.