Due to COVID-19 pandemic, almost everything around the world is on paused. The novel coronavirus has disrupted the strategic decision-making framework for every business. In Singapore, the circuit breaker has extended for another 4 more weeks till 1 June 2020. Companies reduce their financial forecast for this year, and leaders need to get ready to bounce and rethink their business strategy for the post-COVID-19 world.

The rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic caught the world by surprise. Many retail shops and restaurants have closed as everyone stay at home. Millions of people have lost their job. How 'patient zero' got infected and transmitted the novel coronavirus to others is still unknown.

After the circuit breaker, the lives' of humankind will change. The COVID-19 pandemic has impact everyone financially and psychologically. It could take months before we can resume living like our pre-COVID-19 lives.

In this fast-moving era, we need to think about what will be the likely business trends in the post-COVID-19 world. Let's look a look beyond COVID-19.

Remote meeting brings forth Virtual Reality

From remote working to yoga classes, virtual is the future. Meetings that were once thought that face-to-face interaction is a requirement can be done over Zoom or Google Meet. With the circuit breaker imposed, work has been stripped to bare bones. Employers are more comfortable with work from home as long as employees are accountable for the work delivered. Therefore, we are going to see more people working from home in the future.

Classes that were usually taught in person will offer an online elective for students. Students can stay at home and attend their lessons remotely. Events shifting online will be more cost-effective and reduce the risk of contact. The increase in online classes, meetings, work and events will spur growth in a key area of technology known as Virtual Reality (VR).

Virtual Reality will offer an immersive experience for people as they don't need to be physically there. The increase in demand for Virtual Reality will cause this technology to mature faster and bringing it mainstream at a lower cost.

Rise of robots and artificial intelligence (AI)

The demand for workers for essential services skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we are venerable to the virus, the need for social distancing leads to the demand for robotics.

Robots are the war heroes during our fight against COVID-19, and they have addressed the challenges posed by the pandemic. Robots are deployed to take vitals in hospitals and deliver food and medications to patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

Disinfection robots are capable of shredding the DNA or RNA of any microorganisms with the use of ultraviolet-C (UVC) lights. Drones are used for temperature screening to measure the body temperature and detect the key symptom of the coronavirus, fever.

The demand for robotics innovation has caused the request for artificial intelligence (AI), sensors and other robot building parts to be highly sought after. With support from robots, this technology will play an important role in the post-COVID-19 world or during a future pandemic.

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