Our lives have become a constant stream of anxiety filled with suspicion for others. We simply do not know who could be a carrier and this has led us to isolate ourselves socially. As humans, we had evolved to be in groups for our safety and ironically, being in a group may actually jeopardise our safety today.
So, what do we do?
Since the dawn of the Industrial Age, smart manufacturing businesses have always had contingency plans for temporary operational stoppages. This was driven by a general realisation that businesses needed space expansion, shop floor upgrades or even automation integrations, and almost all of these planned or unplanned temporary production stoppages carried significant cost implications for the manufacturing business.
In the first wave of infection and global response, governments turned to digital technology for solutions that could notify individuals, track infection vectors and enable public social management. Apps became the preferred method of scalable direct response. From France to Australia, dozens of countries, health organisations and concerned international groups launched a variety of COVID19 centric apps with some estimates placing the number at over 80 apps.