Information and communication technologies in times of covid-19

Information technologies and communication have played a fundamental role at different levels of intervention and accessibility.

While time seemed to stop, human daily life had to continue its march. In a new ecumenical order, due to the covid-19 pandemic, routine activities acquired dynamics and resources that had been little used until now.

In July 2020, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) highlighted the importance of technologies in the exchange of information to save lives, in the identification of false news, in the use of educational tools for virtual learning, among other uses, whose advances were expected to be developed within several years, during the pandemic have taken only a few months to materialize.

Likewise, surreptitiously, but simultaneously, digital solutions in work, educational, commercial and entertainment fields, beyond facilitating the daily life of millions of people, have been preponderant in the fight against covid-19, as they have contributed in physical distancing and in maintaining a certain regularity in the functioning of socioeconomic systems.

This can be evidenced in data provided by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). For example, between the first and second quarters of 2020, the use of remote work tools increased by 324%; online education, more than 60%.

However, limiting the functionality of ICT to domestic tasks would be to propose a reductionist view of the multiple alternatives offered by information technologies.

Therefore, the HR Observatory website puts on the table situations that would be a trend once the health emergency is over:

Augmented reality, as a key factor in social distancing, in concerts, sporting events and mass events in general.
Artificial intelligence and Deep Learning in the simplification and reduction of time in the diagnosis of diseases.
Big data and AI in logistics and inventory tasks in e-commerce models.
The banking sector and small businesses have a great opportunity to create strategic synergies, through applications, bonuses and even physical products, to encourage and facilitate the purchase of local businesses, essential agents in the economic reactivation of each country.

In scenarios like these, which are already a reality, professionals from the different areas related to information and communication technologies will have better opportunities within a market that will require, more than ever, their knowledge and Management.