Covid-19 Pandemic Gears a New Wave of Innovation Worldwide
Published on : Saturday 02-05-2020
The growing threats driven by Covid-19 have already delayed global businesses and now seem to bring economic recession to the world. The pandemic has put massive pressure on healthcare systems all over the world and is forcing them to develop an effective cure to curb the crisis. In this crisis, as most people stay home to contain the virus from spreading, tech companies are stepping out with life-changing innovations. Big players like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and other tech companies are all mobilized their technologies in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The outbreak also gives rise to innovators and entrepreneurs across the world who are responding to Covid-19 significantly. Since the onset of the pandemic, companies have accelerated their research capabilities, innovation infrastructures such as laboratories and advanced technologies, and are collaborating with local and global peer networks to understand and contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The rapid development and adoption of robotics are helping us today in maintaining social distancing. Robots are assisting healthcare professionals by delivering food and medicines to Covid-19 patients, preventing doctors, nurses and other health care staff from being exposed to the virus. Robotics systems are also using to deliver groceries and essential things to people’s doorstep as the almost country imposed lockdown in the fight against the pandemic. Postmates, a delivery startup, for instance, deployed delivery robots on the streets in California to help citizens amid the Covid-19 crisis. Similarly, Amazon is also testing its autonomous robots.
On the other hand, San Francisco-based Starship Technologies also has deployed a fleet of up to 10 robots that helps the market meet demands in the neighborhood. The company is said to gear up to operate in other areas around Washington and recently launched with retailers in Tempe, Arizona, and in cities in Britain and California. The rolling devices from Starship operate autonomously at a speed of around six kilometers per hour and have the ability to carry about three bags of goods.
A Kerala-based startup Asimov Robotics has deployed robots at entrances to office buildings and other public places to dispense hand sanitizer and deliver public health messages about the virus. The robots are also being deployed in hospital isolation wards to deliver food and medicines, which helps ease the pressure on the medical staff.
Even, startups such as KlinicApp and Practo, are providing Covid-19 tests at home and online consultation with doctors through their platform. KlinicApp launched its doorstep COVID-19 testing in Mumbai, and now plans to roll it out in Pune and Delhi. Additionally, in response to the shortage of ventilators for critical care, startups such as Nocca Robotics, incubated at Indian Institute of Technology(IIT)-Kanpur, Aerobiosys Innovations, incubated at IIT Hyderabad and AgVa Healthcare, are bringing low-cost, easy-to-use, and portable ventilators that can be deployed even in rural areas of India.
Therefore, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought a new sense of importance to innovation efforts. The pandemic has ushered innovation from robotics and drone delivery system to hands-free door openers that can be 3D-printed, to the development of ventilators. Considering these rapid innovation trends, we believe, the new age of innovation that will boon for humankind in some context is just around the corner.