Vanguard Magazine

24 APRIL/MAY 2020 www.vanguardcanada.com CoVid-19 T he more resilient a society is, the greater its ability to bounce back from a crisis. The war against the novel coronavirus pandemic that is impacting hundreds of millions of lives and livelihoods has put to the test every country's disaster and communication re- sponse system – and most, if not all, are having to adapt quickly on the fly. In this so-called hyper-connected age of the con- sumer, many governments, public health, and defence agencies alike are quickly coming to terms with just how uncon- nected their systems really are. This begs the question, when the world emerges from the COVID-19 public health crisis, will public- and private-sector organizations revert to their old ways of doing things? Or, will they adopt a new, better model? Will they expedite their dig- ital agendas? Can the government afford to go digi- tal? Can it afford not to? To be sure, they must find ways to bal- ance their books and pay for their massive fiscal stimulus and emergency economic relief packages. They must also make the necessary digital investments to build a better society than what we had before the great lockdown. A balance will need to be found, as the latter is intrinsically vital to ensure a country's future resiliency, eco- nomic prosperity, and competitiveness. Will this crisis be the catalyst to drive digital adoption? The coronavirus pandemic is unlike pre- vious shocks, such as oil price crises, natu- ral disasters, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the 2008-09 global financial melt- down. The 1973-74 oil shock did prompt lower mandated speed limits and smaller, fuel-efficient cars until geopolitics and consumer demand shifted. After 9/11, we headed into the global war on terrorism, and while the public faced much tighter airport security measures, air travel re- sumed to normal quickly. The reality is, none of these prior crises had a lasting fundamental impact on the way people work, interact, shop, travel, and learn. Virtually overnight, countries put into place social distancing measures and travel restrictions to contain the spread of the vi- rus. Suddenly, organizations were abruptly forced into testing new technology and communication and collaboration tools, and are finding them to be just as good, or even better, than how they operated in the past. If it's not already top of mind, the new By MIKE STONE tIMe tO BreaK DOWn InstItutIOnaL anD teCHnICaL BarrIers COMBattInG CoVid-19

• Cover