Finding Opportunities in Challenging Times

Finding Opportunity in Challenging Times

The Covid-19 pandemic has created the greatest economic crisis the world has faced since the Second World War, says the World Bank in its June 2020 Global Economic Prospects. Even in this bleak scenario, tech industries have fared quite well. Sheila Singam highlights the various tech industries that are likely to thrive during and after the pandemic.

he Covid-19 pandemic has T changed our way of life and of doing business forever. No one was prepared for this non-linear discontinuity in the world economy and there was a wide discrepancy in the way organisations reacted world-wide.

These organisations can be loosely divided into three categories. In the first were those corporations that had a digital strategy in place and they immediately fast-tracked their plans for the future. They were the ones that were almost, but not quite, ready for this new, unexpected episode in our history. The second category were the companies that were totally unprepared, but agile enough to mobilise their digital teams, which though unprepared, managed to muddle through their uncertainty to achieve some semblance of business sustainability. The third type of organization just froze and waited, caught unaware, and hoped it would go away quickly.

It didn’t. Eight months down the line, we have not returned to normal and it looks like we never will. The pandemic accelerated trends that were already shaping before it hit. Changes that were expected over the next five years occurred within weeks. This has forced all organisations to rapidly adapt or fall by the wayside. Aside from having to figure out how to operate in a world cowed into submission by this pandemic, one of the most challenging tasks for most businesses is learning to respond to new consumer trends that have arisen during the global lockdown. Many are struggling, and some have caved in to the challenges and closed shop, but there are companies in many sectors that have found opportunity in the midst of the pandemic by reacting quickly to market demands. One of these sectors is the tech industry, which has seen a surge in demand as businesses turn to digital solutions for business continuity.

A recent report by Accenture states that the consumer habits formed during the global lockdown caused by Covid 19 will “endure beyond the crisis, permanently changing what we value; as well as how and where we shop and work.” There is no doubt that working, living, eating, leisure and buying patterns have changed dramatically worldwide and are likely to be here to stay. These trends offer new business opportunities for the tech industry to pivot and create new income streams in various sectors as outlined below.

BLENDED LEARNING

A hybrid of in-person lessons and distance learning via virtual platforms

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The global artificial intelligence market is expected to grow from $28.42 billion in 2019 to $40.74 billion in 2020. The leap is mainly due to Covid 19, which has sparked a plethora of transformative technologies. If the world economy is able to recover as expected on a linear trend, the market could grow to $99.94 billion in 2023.

There will be ample opportunities in the coming decade for companies involved in artificial intelligence to expand their scope of business. Online portal GlobeNewswire says that a major challenge to the growth of the AI sector is the limited number of experts in the field. Research by Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent three years ago pegged the figure of AI researchers and practitioners at around 300,000, while the actual number needed runs into the millions.

TELEHEALTH

Telehealth services can definitely cut costs for consumers. Malaysia’s telehealth industry, which was struggling to go mainstream before the pandemic, definitely offers new possibilities now.

An article on CodeBlue, an online health publication, states that since February this year, digital health platform DoctorOnCall has seen over five million visitors to its website and has over three million active users. The platform has concluded thousands of consultations between patients and doctors. As health continues to be a major concern for consumers, this sector

offers great opportunity for the tech industry. However, there will need to be conversations with the health industry regulators on the issue of dispensing separation and with the finance industry on insurance coverage for telehealth services.

ENTERTAINMENT

Social distancing rules and the fear of public places has drastically cut down the number of people visiting entertainment outlets. And yet, people need entertainment to distract them from the dreariness of being stuck at home. Human creativity has come to the rescue with museums, theatres and concert organisers offering virtual solutions. Of course, a concert streamed online can never match the roar of a crowd and thunder of drumbeats, but when there is no choice, why not?

If concerts are not one’s cup of tea, there are always a multitude of movies available via online platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and others. As these entertainment solutions become more popular and convenient, they may phase out the conventional cinema experience. There is opportunity for these entities to pivot by offering hybrid solutions to consumers hungry for fresh, new approaches to being entertained at home or in small, safe groups.

FOOD AND BEVERAGE

The F&B industry has seen a major transformation during this pandemic. Restaurants and bars have suffered due to major restrictions, and many have closed down. Those that have survived the movement control order have morphed into crossbreed entities offering as much, if not more, food via delivery than in-house dining. What if a solution could be offered to small business owners who want to carry on their business, but cannot afford to set up shop in a rented space in a high-end part of town?

A possible solution could be a cloud kitchen backed by a common shared kitchen. Something like a SOHO for chefs, where they could come in and rent a workstation to produce comestibles based on demand generated through a cloud kitchen. The concept could be tagged to a delivery service, which also offers additional business opportunities.

Napoleon Hill said, “In every

adversity lies the seed of an equal or greater opportunity.” We’ve seen numerous seeds of opportunity sprouting into amazing innovations that have shifted entire industries. The world as we know it is gone. We can either swim strong with the tide of change or drown by standing still and doing nothing. Opportunities are aplenty, now it’s time to get cracking, to grasp the best of them and transform them into viable businesses.

Sheila Singam is the founder of Human Equation Sdn Bhd, a company dedicated to accelerating growth in individuals and corporations alike. She believes that when things get tough, it’s time to get going.