Author: James Dong
Editors: Tiffany Chan, Joyce Hai, Demi Leng, Katelyn Ma, Shannon Tan, Cynthia Zhang, Molly Zhao, Leon Zhou
Artist: Yimo Dong
There are always two sides to everything, hence, it is important to look at the pandemic from an objective point of view. The human impact of this outbreak is undoubtedly enormous. The economy has been undergoing a recession, with factories closing down and workers losing their jobs. Many people are therefore deprived of their primary source of income. However, COVID-19 has presented certain opportunities amid the crisis. In regards to China, this pandemic has accelerated the transformation and progress of China’s society and improved its social structure.
With the rapid development of the internet and other online industries, digital transformation has become the next topic for many enterprises. Under the severe test of the pandemic, digital technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence have provided strong technical support for local governments to deploy software that copes with pandemic prevention and enterprise control. The digital map of China is advancing faster than expected. Many cities have moved government businesses from in-person to online platforms
to increase convenience. Big data and visualization technology have served as the "command module" of the pandemic prevention by controlling and coordinating information campaigns; this provides assurance for people when traveling, and enterprises for returning to work at offices. The stable operation of the urban grid integrated management service platform can reduce the intensity of community-level work and media exposure, as well as reduce the risk of infection.
The pandemic has also accelerated the process of dehumanization in China. To avoid close contact between infected people and improve the efficiency of pandemic prevention, all kinds of service robots have played roles. Especially in body-feeling detection, distribution, disinfection sterilization and surgical scenarios, robots can effectively substitute personnel for operation and reduce unnecessary risks. 5G cleaning and disinfection robots, as well as 5G medical assistant robots, have performed well to ensure hygiene and promote efficient treatment methods.
Short videos and other new kinds of media are also represented by the rise of the personal IP era. Watching videos has become an indispensable pastime during the pandemic, which not only greatly enriches human life, but also creates new jobs. It reduces social employment pressure by accelerating the transformation of one-to-one service enterprise employment mode to the personal IP era. The above three points are the obvious social impetus brought by the pandemic. The future is always unpredictable, whether it being more opportunities or challenges that await us.