The technology sector is no surprise when it comes to leading the way in the use of technology. Media, finance, and professional services are all close behind, as they have more advanced digital capabilities than other industries. Even those sectors that are lagging behind can have prominent companies that are pushing the boundaries for everyone else. Technology has revolutionized a key component for many manufacturing companies: the way they produce their products.
With advances in 3D printing, manufacturers can now use this technology to “print” their products faster, improving time efficiency and increasing the overall productivity of manufacturing companies and, thus, the industry as a whole. Technology has also changed many aspects of people's everyday lives, including dating and romance. Although online dating is not a new technological innovation, advances in this area have been made. Apps like Tinder and Bumble have made it easier to find a date; users can access pictures, interests, and hobbies while also attracting potential matches with the swipe of a thumb.
Across industries, from healthcare to education, finance, and manufacturing, quarantine and extended work from home forced companies to use technology to reimagine almost every aspect of their operations. As the world reopens, we look at industries that are likely to thrive in a post-COVID world. From healthcare to education to entertainment and manufacturing, technology innovators are taking a step forward to help answer that question. Patients and healthcare providers had to quickly adopt telehealth services and remote health monitoring to cope with hospital capacity overloads and mental health services and gyms had to move remotely due to social distancing and lockdown orders.
Although telehealth technology may have encountered resistance before, this seems to be changing in light of the coronavirus outbreak. As infrastructure improves and these services become more familiar, telehealth technology, continuous and remote diagnosis, remote mental care, virtual fitness, and technologies for aging in place could continue to grow even after the pandemic subsides. Industry advocates have championed telehealth for years, pointing out its potential to reduce costs, ease pressure on overburdened health systems, and make care more accessible in rural and underserved areas. All that has changed with the Covid-19 pandemic.
With traditional healthcare capabilities exhausted, patients have turned to telemedicine as a safe alternative to in-person visits. The constant migration to telehealth has triggered a wave of technological advances related to the use of artificial intelligence and chatbots in home care. The goal is to help healthcare organizations engage more patients at scale. For example, Oxford Medical Simulation offered its virtual reality training system free of charge to hospitals and medical schools that needed to train large numbers of staff in the treatment of patients with coronavirus.
The most prominent example has been seen in healthcare equipment manufacturing which has struggled to increase production to meet dramatically increasing demand for critical equipment such as respirators, face masks, and test swabs. These strengths are likely to continue to attract manufacturers after the immediate threat of Covid-19 has receded. Companies that can meet the specialized requirements of the healthcare industry could see a sustained increase in demand as networks of hospitals and other providers seek to increase the supply of essential equipment and materials in a cost-effective manner. Contact center software developer Bright Pattern offers “special” virtual call center capability as a business continuity service for companies looking to maintain support operations during the pandemic.
Similarly, patient remote communications developer TriageLogic has introduced a virtual call center product that uses its existing telehealth technologies to enable healthcare organizations to implement virtualized support systems including telephony services based on cloud computing that comply with regulations. In general terms, companies in the technology sector are engaged in research, development and manufacture of technology-based goods and services. They create software and design and manufacture computers, mobile devices and appliances as well as offer products and services related to information technology.
