Articles about Coronavirus

There are moments in everyone’s lives when they become aware that they are living through history. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its global lockdowns, was definitely one of those times.

In a bid to document the "personal, cultural, and societal impact" of the global pandemic from a number of different perspectives, the Internet Archive has created a giant COVID-19 web portal for anyone to explore.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a technology leapfrog beyond anything we’ve seen in decades. But now that we’ve made this leap is there any going back? And do we have the right technology for enterprises to keep up with new demands?

According to Pew Research, as of around two years into the pandemic, roughly 60 percent of U.S. workers who say their jobs can mainly be done from home (59 percent) are working from home. Our research found that digital experiences like online gaming, streaming and telehealth increased dramatically during the early days pandemic. And now, technologies and experiences like cloud gaming caught on during the pandemic are exploding. 

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With COVID-19 as the backdrop, the last two years have been both scary and exhilarating for IT teams as they delivered innovation at previously unimaginable speeds.

During this time, CIOs have overseen the enablement of remote working for millions of employees and shifted numerous legacy systems to the cloud. But as we emerge from the IT battlefield of COVID-19, what does the post-pandemic landscape look like? What new challenges will the coming months pose, and how can IT departments prepare themselves for the next wave of disruption? Below are three recommendations for where to focus IT efforts in the near term while continuing to drive business value by leveraging the speed and power of modern innovations. Let’s begin by looking backwards.

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Covid-19 has, of course, had an immense impact on health, society, industry, and economies. Just three months before the first wave started to rapidly sweep the globe in 2020, it had practically never been heard of. Yet as soon as it emerged, entire industries were shut down while others were severely disrupted. Workers on mass were directed by governments not to travel or to work from home wherever possible, and those that had underlying health conditions were forced to self-isolate. It felt like the world as we knew it was turned upside down overnight. Businesses had no experience of such calamity, nor had they any contingency plans that came anywhere close to being adequate. The rule books were simply torn up overnight.

Most businesses had to adapt on the fly, and rapidly. Every day felt like another firefighting day, and as soon as the fires were out, along came the next wave or variant. As a result, manufacturers had to rapidly change their operations in response to supply and demand chain volatility or workforce availability. Changes to technology platforms to support remote workers had to be implemented in weeks, if not days. There was no time for proper planning, feasibility studies, risk assessments, or preparing a detailed business case with return on investment projections. Change simply had to just happen quickly.

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As we move into 2022, perhaps the biggest change we have seen is the beginning of the end for traditional 9-5 working in favour of anytime working. Much has been made of agile and remote working with a great deal of the focus being on physical location, but the knock-on effect this has on working hours and the technologies we utilise is huge.

The act of walking in and out of an office (or perhaps the commute) for most gives a clear beginning and end to the working day. In the hybrid working world these once black and white edges to your day become greyed. Today, with laptops firmly in place and collaboration tools delivering work into your home mean that work is never more than a couple of steps away.

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Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the demand for employees to return to the workplace, the United States Department of Labor is acting on an executive order from the Biden administration which requires all companies with more than 100 employees to issue vaccination passports or agree to frequent COVID testing, as a part of their day-to-day business activities.

There is a workforce divide as to how vaccine mandates will be implemented across managers and employees. As it stands, and according to a recent study, only 30 percent of executives feel that their businesses should implement some level of vaccine mandate. This may be mainly down to anti-vaccination sentiment, which has caused issues throughout the economy and its workforce.

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Unsurprisingly, vaccines have taken center stage this year as researchers continue to work to find immunizations for COVID-19.

Here are six of the critical technologies -- from 3D printing to telemedicine -- spurring progress on those and other vaccination development efforts.

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With no true end to the COVID-19 pandemic in sight, there are growing concerns from parents, teachers, and dignitaries alike about how schools can operate safely as the new school year gets into full flow. As vaccination rates increase across the board, educational institutions nationwide are determining whether or not to make it mandatory for students to be vaccinated upon re-entry.

Vaccine passports have become a hot topic of discussion. They are valid pieces of documentation that prove that you have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and other infections. They can be physical copies, such as a paper card. Or, more conveniently, vaccine passports are digital, available through phone apps and other technological means. Some universities and colleges have required that these passports be shown, while several apps have been developed to show these passports. As health officials express concern about COVID spread and variants make their presence felt, can vaccine passports assure students a safe return to school this year?

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As is the case with just about any big news story, particularly one relating to health, the coronavirus pandemic has led to a serious problem with misinformation. And as governments around the world try to encourage citizens to get vaccinations, so the antivaxxer movement has been trying to control the narrative surrounding the global crisis.

Conspiracy theories abound, and antivaxxers have had a field day casting doubt on the efficacy, purpose and safety of COVID-19 vaccines. Social media platforms have been fighting to ensure that incorrect or misleading information about vaccinations are either kept offline, or flagged up with warnings, and now YouTube has finally followed suit, implementing new rules that equate to a complete ban on antivax videos.

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We’re a year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic, and burnout is hitting employees hard. Recently, Okta CEO Todd McKinnon used an all-hands meeting with employees to underline the importance of taking vacation. In April, LinkedIn announced it was giving the entire company a full week off to unplug, recharge and help curb burnout. 

For security teams, burnout isn’t a new phenomenon. Given the need to always be on and ready, cybersecurity professionals already face high levels of stress, and the pandemic has added to increasing and alarming burnout rates. On the heels of the Exchange, Kaseya, and SolarWinds attacks, it’s no surprise that cybersecurity teams are overworked and exceptionally stressed -- we’re under a lot of pressure.

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A quick look at the Forbes Global 2000 will tell you that not many businesses stand the test of time. To endure throughout the ages, organizations must regularly adapt and reinvent themselves to keep up with new developments. Never has this received wisdom been more apt than throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, where many businesses have had to adjust their offerings and operations to stay relevant in the remote climate.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, this sentiment will continue to be vital. Indeed, as vaccination rates climb, and nations worldwide begin to ease their lockdowns and restrictions, many governments will be scrapping their 'work from home' guidelines. That said, this doesn’t mean companies plan to return to their old ways. As such, decision-makers will require a plan of action to make the decisions necessary to keep up with new trends.

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Few businesses have been able to avoid the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic -- the necessity of strict social distancing and national lockdowns including closure of non-essential retail created a major financial strain on organizations across the country.

Recent figures paint a promising picture of businesses’ recoveries. Indeed, the ONS recorded an increase of 9.4 percent in investments made by businesses in Q3 2020. However, there is still a tremendous distance ahead on the path to recovery; the latest figures show Q1 2021 investment levels still 18.4 percent lower than Q4 2019, the last wholly pre-pandemic quarter.

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As the world battles the coronavirus pandemic, governments around the globe are taking different approaches to tackling the problem. While COVID-19 remains a somewhat divisive topic, there's one thing that most people can agree on: vaccinations are going to play a major role in getting things under control.

This is why the father of Linux, Linus Torvalds, has spoken out telling people to "get vaccinated" and "stop believing the anti-vax lies". For anyone who believes "the crazy conspiracy theories" he has a simple message: "SHUT THE HELL UP". Meanwhile, Linux Foundation Public Health has launched the Global COVID Certificate Network (GCCN), described as "an initiative to enable interoperable and trustworthy verification of COVID certificates between jurisdictions for safe border reopening".

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COVID-19 threw the spotlight on cybersecurity like never before. The unprecedented global shift to remote working and subsequent surge in cyber crime, drove a priority focus amongst business leaders to ensure a robust cybersecurity posture across every part of their newly extended network. Many organizations had to make this transition rapidly, which increased the likelihood of misconfigurations and other errors, while the drastically increased attack surface presented fresh cybersecurity challenges around remote network connections, VPN connections, phishing, and many other types of network attacks.

Ensuring adequate protection against this wave of new security threats facing every size and shape of business became paramount and challenged CISOs to balance reduced budgets and staff against the requirement for increased technology investment.

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One thing authorities are learning with the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is that data matters. Since the first vials of this medical breakthrough began leaving their factories on highly specialized refrigerated trucks in December last year, there have been numerous reports of seemingly avoidable mistakes.

From a miscommunication between logistics officials and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that left 14 states with vaccine shortfalls to reports of vaccine shipments going to waste or spoiling because of poor timing or confusion over protocols, there is a general state of confusion clouding this initial phase of the distribution effort.  With the CDC reporting more than 16 million cases and 300,000 deaths in the U.S. throughout 2020, the stakes could not be higher, and these mistakes could be avoided.

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