Corona and Digital Transformation

Written by: Dr. Hamada Al-Antably

There is no doubt that the Corona pandemic has cast a shadow over the entire world… millions of infected individuals and hundreds of thousands of deaths… global economies on the verge of collapse… fractured international relations… halted air traffic… closed businesses… social distancing… all of these are negative repercussions of the Corona pandemic (COVID-19). However, as the saying goes: out of adversity comes blessing, and with every crisis comes an opportunity.

The blessing and opportunity we are witnessing is the acceleration of digital transformation processes. Just recently, the largest economic summit in the world was held online: the G20 Summit, which brought together the world’s major economies in an exceptional virtual summit. The majority of jobs are now practiced from home via the internet; government and various institutional meetings are held online; the educational process in schools and universities has moved online (lectures, workshops, and even the defense of academic theses); and remote training courses have proliferated.

In sports, we found clubs trying to organize online training sessions for players to maintain their physical fitness levels. In scouting, we saw the World Scout Jamboree followed by national camps taking place online. All of these matters are merely examples, with many more existing, serving as indicators and evidence of global digital transformation operations.

It appears that the year 2020 will be the year of the digital revolution. The horizons of the digital future are vast, and transitioning toward them opens up new fields and heralds a new future. The world after 2020 and the Corona pandemic will be different from what came before it. Political relations, economic powers, and their drivers will all change in light of a new world whose language is digital, while conversely, old ideas and economies will fade away.

We are facing the Fourth Industrial Revolution with all its drivers. Consequently, we must accelerate our engagement with it and our preparation for it in order to catch up with the caravan of progress and technology—the caravan of the digital age—so that we do not turn into fossils of the past and end up in museums.

So, welcome to the post-Corona world and the digital age, and condolences to rigid molds!

Best regards and appreciation,

By Dr. Hamada Al-Antably