There's a less familiar story about covid-19.
The crisis is boosting innovation with the emergence of brand new ideas...
It's like mRNA vaccine, a new technology
this comes with the application of existing ones...
this comes in from surprising new ways
The crisis has caused an acceleration in adoption of technologies
This is pushing the world further into the future...
We' ve had to build more aeroplanes than we ever have before
it comes often at breakneck speed
We've just closed losing 250m pounds
Businesses are being forced to adapt...
Hello
Thank you, amazing
...or you will face extinction
Another hammer-blow to Britain's retail sector
This upsurge in innovation will bring lasting change for good and bad.
Could you get into your computer?
No
This is my kids' future
So what lessons can be learned as the world looks towards the post-pandemic era?
There is an opportunity for innovation to stay at the cutting edge
I haven't seen this
Is this a new piece?
What is this part?
It's the front of the fuse
Got it
This is the headquarters of Zipline, a drone-manufacturing company
Is this 3D printed?
Yeah
Oh this is plastic now, yeah
Yeah, totally
Since the pandemic , the business has really taken off
Drone technology has been around for a while ...
but during the pandemic, 'it's starting to realise its considerable potential
With social distancing, 'the new normal ', health systems around the world are now looking at drones as a new and better way to deliver products 'such as blood, cancer treatments and vaccines
Every hospital system and health system on Earth is suddenly trying to reconfigure itself to a new reality to extend the reach of the hospital system 'directly into the home enabling care closer to where patients lives
'so they have to travel less
It's more convenient and the patient takes less risk of getting infected if they need to access general care
From mid-June to September 2020 '
Zipline delivered more than 100,000 medical products as many as over the previous three years
We've done a few things like putting a set of wing covers there now
When did that change?
Weeks ago
Perhaps the most significant change has come in countries with strict airspace laws
In May 2020, an emergency licence was issued in America allowing Zipline to fly long-range delivery drones through controlled airspace for the first time
And in December, American regulators issued new rules allowing drones to fly over people, and at night
This looser approach is accelerating the shift towards more states receiving medical supplies in a more efficient and productive way
So we're seeing hospital systems that previously thought they had ten years to effect this kind of change
...now trying to do this in one year
Although drone-filled skies are some way off
covid-19 has also accelerated the conversation around the use of drones beyond health care in a variety of new fields
So pop this , i will pop this out
Zipline has partnered with retail giant Walmart
It's one of a number of companies due to begin trial deliveries of consumer products
I think it's been really easy for people to understand the value 'and there is a pretty intense sense of civic pride around the country leading the way in terms of showing how this new technology can save lives
This kind of rapid adoption of emerging technologies has been called tech-celeration...
...and it is the type of innovation that has been given the biggest boost around the world by the pandemic
A classic example of tech-celeration was what happened in the National Health Service in England where a system to make possible video-calling was effectively built over a weekend and then rolled out to doctors across the country
Tech-celeration is pushing companies further and faster into the future
Exactly how many years into the future we've been pushed by this crisis varies
It depends on the behaviour, it depends on the country
but it does seem to be, sort of, of the order of five years
So welcome to 2025
History shows that innovation often thrives during times of crisis
Take the financial crash of 2008 which led to the widespread adoption of cloud computing
The cloud had been around since the early 2000s
but it gained a new footing as the economic slowdown took hold
Companies were very often reluctant to try cloud computing
They thought it was not secure
And then they gave it a try found it was cheaper, found it was more secure
And cloud computing has expanded very rapidly
As well as accelerating the adoption of developing technologies
crises can also foster the development of entirely new ideas
A good example of a crisis that led to lots of invention would be the second world war
So you get the first digital computers which are used for code-breaking '
'you get the first jet engines that paves the way for mass air travel
you get nuclear technology, which is used for weapons but can also be used to generate energy
And you also get the first rockets
When it comes to new ideas, covid-19 has left its mark in the field of medicine where researchers around the world have pioneered new techniques in the development of vaccines
This phenomenal work has been done
Multiple teams producing vaccines in months rather than years using entirely new technologies in some cases
So these mRNA vaccines are a new type of vaccine and they seem to work extremely well
So that is very impressive example of invention
We are collectively telling cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants to close
In most industries, the pandemic has boosted innovation by forcing companies to adopt new ways of doing things purely as a matter of survival
We have innovated for necessity
Even for Michelin-star restaurant owner, David Moore
Lockdown forced him to place 90% of his staff on furlough, an emergency government scheme that pays the wages of workers
For the business, it meant we had no income
I had thought that maybe we would not be able to get back to doing what we did before
So, to save his business...
David adopted something once unthinkable
it was in the rarefied world of fine dining.
a takeaway
The restaurant turned this into this.
Thank you, amazing
it is a heat-at-home Michelin-star ready-meal
Now the restaurant is Vegan Box has proven so popular
it has been rolled out nationwide
I definitely see online as something that is staying with us
It is totally invigorated the business
Billy that is the samphire
As businesses throughout the hospitality industry have been forced to adapt
the pandemic has fuelled the rapid growth of the meal-delivery industry
Globally, the total revenue of this industry is now expected to reach $182bn by 2024
it is an increase of more than a third from the projected level in 2020
When the pandemic recedes,
the innovative mindset many businesses have been forced to embrace, looks set to linger
For David, the unexpected success of his food-delivery service points to a hybrid model for the future
it is one that will allow his chefs to continue to innovate in the kitchen
Home delivery is not gonna finish fine dining
Fine dining is here to stay
People want to be looked after
they want crisp linen
they want the waiters looking after them and they want no washing up afterwards
But while the pandemic has made innovation , a necessity for some companies
it has also restricted opportunities for others
Amidst the huge economic downturn, companies have been consolidating
The third quarter of 2020 'was the busiest for mergers and acquisitions in three decades
it is a trend that is likely to tilt resources for new thinking and new ideas further towards big companies
By and large big companies can continue to invest in difficult times
They can continue to take market share in a way that small companies cannot and so generally this is leading to sort of greater inequality between companies
It is a sort of big-gets-bigger phenomenon
There are parts of America you can only scout if you come in here
Your international Harvester dealer showroom
History also suggests that successful companies tend to start life more often in the good times than the bad
Of the biggest American firms founded since 1970 more than 80% were born during eras of growth
During economic downturns life can be much harder for startups which are so often the engines of innovation
But back in the booming world of online food delivery, some startups have found hungry investors
So we just closed 250m pounds.
We just closed 250m pounds.
Sisters Gini and Eccie Newton run Karma Kitchen
It is a startup that offers flexible kitchen space known as ghost kitchens to cooks and restaurants catering mainly to the delivery market
While some ghost kitchens are owned by a single-restaurant chain, Karma Kitchen has many different companies hot-stationing under one roof
Producing everything from west African donuts to tandoori curries
The company was founded two years ago and the pandemic has transformed its fortunes
What would have taken us potentially three years to achieve has now taken eight months in terms of market demand
The startup has recently opened its second ghost kitchen in London and it has another five sites under construction
It plans to build many more ghost kitchens in residential and office hotspots across Europe
We want to open 60 kitchen facilities
That starts for us with the funding
The ambition of fast-growing startups like Karma Kitchen can attract investors
But it can also end with the startup selling itself to a larger company with deeper pockets
And that brings its own risks
You see from research on mergers and acquisitions...
when an acquisition happens, the innovativeness of that small firm typically goes down
The question really is whether large conglomerates will be able to fuel these startups in order for them to carry the front in terms of innovation and for that innovation to then be disseminated into the rest of the organisation
For many large and small companies working from home has been the most significant innovation to come out of the pandemic
In 2020 covid-19 turned a little-known tech firm into one of the success stories of the pandemic
At the start of the year about 10m people were taking part in meetings over Zoom each day
But this had shot up to 300m by April 2020
And the widespread adoption of remote working during the pandemic could lead to further innovation in future
More companies may be inclined to take risks and embrace new ideas in the coming years
They have discovered that actually working from home can work really well and does not seem to make people less productive
It may make people more productive
That will mean that after the crisis, companies will be more willing to keep some of those behaviours
They maybe have less business travel, maybe have more working from home and maybe even dare to try other things that they were reluctant to
So, it is just allowing them to be tested and not punishing people if they do not work. because that is just going to put them off
Some of the most groundbreaking ideas require the right opportunity and circumstances to demonstrate their value
Two decades ago, e-learning emerged as a radical new idea predicted to transform the world of education
But such predictions fell flat.
Sending all students home for the rest of this semester after a coronavirus outbreak on campus
until covid-19 struck and the potential of remote learning became clear
The online-education market is set to nearly quadruple between 2019 and 2026
The pandemic has really changed the culture inside educational institutions...
and it made them more open to adopting e-learning
Online learning democratises learning to a great extent
it has allowed students to really customise learning to their needs and you could complete an entire degree online
because you may be in a part of the world where it is very difficult for you to commute to a university
The culture change around online learning seems here to stay,
but with it comes a reminder that new innovations can also struggle to overcome some old challenges
For full-time university student and mum of three, Christina Holley, studying before the pandemic was going well
Every semester I got As and Bs
I was meeting and beating my own expectations
And my kids were studying really hard and grades were good
But now Christina is unable to afford the technology required to allow her family to participate in the switch to e-learning
Having the transition to online education was terrible, there were not enough devices in the home
I want to try and restart the internet first
Using one Chromebook for three children is terrible
First of all their schedules were at the same time
So when all three of you have to start school at 8.30, on one Chromebook, it is impossible
According to America's education department nearly one-in-eight children do not have internet access via a desktop or laptop at home
Digital learning looks likely to entrench social inequality in the post-pandemic world
The reliance on technology has really surfaced these inequalities that existed before,
but that were not as present because everyone was in a room together
Christina says that falling behind could force her to become a part-time student.
and that this will reduce her financial aid
and it affect her ability to pay for her college studies
I hate to even think about what that means because this is my life you know, this is my kids' future
There is really no other option for me other than school
This is what I need to do in order to bring us out of poverty
Many of the innovations that have flourished during the crisis are centred around digital technology
and it will have become part of everyday life...
when the world returns to more ordinary times,
Technologists and policymakers face the challenge of ensuring these new innovations do not entrench inequality, but instead broaden opportunity
I think that this is really an important chance for humanity to not only bring new technology to bear but for the first time bring it to bear in a way that is equitable for humans on Earth
Hello I am Tom Standage, deputy editor at The Economist
If you would like to read more about how covid-19 is driving innovation then click on the link opposite ( https://econ.st/2SyRPAg )
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