ASEAN's role in global sustainable growth is and will be "significant" in the coming years but the region needs to focus on its commitment to open trade and investment, sustainability and continual upgrade through digitalisation.

Indeed, there is "cause for optimism" despite the ever-present risk of new and more infectious variants as Covid-19 has provided the unique opportunity to reset the global economy and society on a pathway towards inclusive and sustainable growth, said Jose Vinals, group chairman at Standard Chartered.

"Companies in Asean that start aligning their products and services with evolving consumer preferences will reap the opportunities that sustainable investment can bring," said Vinals in his speech at the Standard Chartered Asean Business Forum 2021.

He cited the bank's Opportunity2030: The Standard Chartered SDG Investment Map which revealed, for the first time, the scale of the almost US$10 trillion private-sector investment opportunity in contributing to just three of the United Nation's sustainability development goals (SDGs), namely SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitaion; SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy; and SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.

Specifically, the combined potential private-sector investment opportunity in Indonesia by 2030 is an estimated US$280 billion, he noted.

"With 100 million people across Asean expected to migrate from rural areas to cities between 2015 and 2030, demand for sustainable infrastructure, real estate and more sustainable sources of energy will dramatically increase."

The other large area of focus is digitalisation which, said Vinals, drives more than just innovation now. "It is about how we can have business continuity, sustainability, and inclusivity," he said.

A key growth pillar

With Asean projected to have a digital economy of at least US$300 billion by 2025 - showed estimates in the annual South-east Asia e-Conomy report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co - this is expected to be a key growth area for the region.

Already, sectors that embrace the digital economy are winning.

In response to a question from the audience on how companies can invest in the face of an uneven recovery post-Covid, Benjamin Hung, chief executive officer, Asia, Standard Chartered, noted that in this "K-shaped" recovery, sectors such as e-commerce, communal transportation, food delivery and grocery delivery are winning. "Anything that moves fast to become more digitalised, more accessible and more inclusive will be the winners," he said.

Oliver Tonby, senior partner and core leader at McKinsey's digital capability centre, echoed this point of view.

"If you look at the percent of digital revenue that is captured by the top 10 per cent of companies, in the telecommunications and media industry it is 95 per cent; in the banking industry it is 85 per cent; and in the retail industry, it is 93 per cent," said Tonby.

"So you're seeing a huge drive towards 'winner takes a lot, if not all'. And we've seen it accelerate in the last couple of years. The companies that were ahead on digital transformations before Covid set in are pulling further ahead much faster."

Tonby and Hung were part of a panel of speakers touching on the importance of catalysing Asean connectivity and how companies need to pivot from survival to growth mode in a digitally entrenched manner.

In a world where Covid-19 has catalysed the acceleration of digital evolution and innovation cycles are faster, the rise of e-commerce is not so much due to consumer behaviour change but to companies adopting to the digital reality at a much higher pace than before, said Lazada's group chief strategy officer, Magnus Ekbom.

As these 2 worlds meet each other - the digitally savvy consumer and the company that is adapting to digital platforms - the distinction between e-commerce and commerce may soon disappear.

"Within the next 3-5 years, the term 'e-commerce is going to disappear and there's only going to be 'commerce'," said Ekbom.

And it is companies that successfully translate everything that their existing offline footprint offers - such as customer touch points - into data points that will be the winners, he said.

Commitment to open trade

In his opening comments, Standard Chartered's Vinals noted that a commitment to open trade and investment both within Asean and with its key partners has enabled the region to engage in more cross-border business.

"While impacted by the pandemic, trade and investment within the bloc continued to be very resilient last year," he noted.

Notably, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into Asean reached its highest level in 2019 at US$182 billion, making Asean the largest recipient of FDI in the developing world, said the Asean Secretariat's Asean Investment Report 2020-2021. Due to Covid-19, FDI declined to US$137 billion in 2020. But as a proportion of global FDI figures, Asean bucked the trend, with its share of global FDI rising from 11.9 per cent in 2019 to 13.7 per cent in 2020.

Meanwhile, intra-Asean total trade in goods increased by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3 per cent between 2015 and 2019, from US$535.4 billion to US$632.6 billion.

In 2020, due to Covid-19 disruptions, total intra-Asean trade in goods stood at about US$565.9 billion, with CAGR for the period 2015-2020 at 1.4 per cent.

"I think it's very common nowadays - especially last year, when borders were shutting and export controls and bans were popping up all over - to take an of inward-looking, isolationist view of the world," said Gabriel Lim, Permanent Secretary of the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry.

But Singapore has been consistent in making the case for connectedness and integration, he said.

In a report on intra-Asean corridor opportunity, part of Standard Chartered's Borderless Business series, the authors noted that Asean will play a bigger role in the global production value chain in view of its heightened connectivity with 5 major trading partners - China, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and South Korea.

Further, 83 per cent of the respondents surveyed for the report indicated they plan to increase their company's investments in Asean over the next 3- 5 years by at least 25 per cent, once the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is ratified.

"One issue that Singapore has always believed in is that free-trade agreements are not just an economic marriage but in many ways, also a strategic marriage," said MTI's Lim.

"When you have many countries committing to work together to grow together (and) to prosper together, there is a shared interest in one another's success, in their stability and their prosperity," he said.

Singapore is particularly keen to be an advocate for free trade and integration, a catalyst for new trade agreements, and a champion for inclusive growth.

It is clear that South-east Asia, along with the rest of the world, has to think of how to restore growth trajectories in a different way, he said, both by taking advantage of new growth areas such as the digital economy and ensuring that any recovery is enduring and sustainable.

Already, conversations are taking place in terms of frameworks for cross-border data flows, personal data and protection frameworks. Last year for instance, Singapore signed digital economy partnership agreements with Australia, New Zealand and Chile, among others.

Looking beyond digital ecosystems, harmonisation of frameworks and policies can extend to other areas including Covid policies, vaccination, and travel arrangements, said Standard Chartered's Hung.

"Given how disrupted our supply chain has been, I think there's a lot of work that can be done to smoothen out all these wrinkles, whether through trade pacts or cooperation, (or) through really trying to develop a better framework around or intra-Asean, both as an export originator as well as a destination market," he said.

ECONOMISTS are modestly upbeat about Asean's export outlook as global reopening continues, amid Malaysia and Thailand posting better-than-expected trade figures for September.

Though Asia's year-on-year export growth may have already peaked amid waning base effects, the easing in Covid-19 restrictions in South-east Asia should boost sequential growth in manufacturing exports in Q4, said Oxford Economics lead Asia economist Sian Fenner in an Oct 28 note.

In Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, year-on-year export growth improved as eased restrictions are triggering a pick-up in manufacturing activity. "This is likely to have also contributed to solid gains in Singapore's re-exports in September," she added.

Thailand's trade figures released this week showed exports growing by a stronger-than-expected 17.1 per cent year on year. Citi economist Nalin Chutchotitham sees this as reflecting oil price effects, greater global reopening and the easing of Covid-related factory disruptions.

Thailand's export outlook remains "fairly healthy", she said, noting a September survey indicating expectations that future foreign orders are improving.

But this may not move the needle on the current account balance, as the slow pickup in tourism has not adequately improved the balance of trade for services. She expects a current account deficit of 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, followed by a surplus of 0.5 per cent in 2022.

Barclays economists Shreya Sodhani and Brian Tan said September's figures were in line with their expectation for exports to return to first-half strength after Covid-related factory disruptions resolve.

They expect a current account surplus of 0.7 per cent of GDP in 2022, "with the goods-trade surplus likely remaining robust and tourist arrivals picking up".

Maybank Kim Eng analysts Lee Ju Ye and Chua Hak Bin note, however, that rising global oil prices will weigh on Thailand's current account deficit, as it is a net importer.

Malaysia's gross exports grew by a better-than-expected 24.7 per cent in September, resulting in a record trade surplus of RM26.1 billion (S$8.48 billion), even as imports grew 26.5 per cent year on year.

UOB economists Julia Goh and Loke Siew Ting said: "As most countries have further re-opened their economies and global demand continues to recover, Malaysia's trade sector will likely sustain its decent growth momentum in the near term.

"The seventh straight month of robust imports of intermediate goods implies strong export orders ahead of year-end festive demand."

Other positive factors are the resumption of all economic sectors' resumption of full operations capacity starting this month, and the approval granted to bring in 32,000 foreign workers, which should boost firms' capability to meet export orders, they said.

Barclays' Tan sees Malaysia's goods exports as remaining robust, "supported by still-elevated global tech demand and commodity prices".

Source: The Business Times (Singapore)

Reference: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/asean-business/asean-export-outlook-remains-firm-good-numbers-in-sept-for-malaysia-thailand

The writer is vice president, South Asia Pacific, at Nutanix, an American cloud computing company that sells software, cloud services, and software-defined storage.

Did you know that more than 80 percent of the world’s hard drives are manufactured in Asean? That is an impressive figure even for the region, which is the fifth-largest economy in the world.

Manufacturing is often perceived as a traditional industry heavily reliant on equipment and processes. Beyond the big machineries, conveyer belts and assembly lines, manufacturing is in fact very diverse and has long helped shape the economic growth in this region. The Boston Consulting Group also estimates that Asean manufacturing output can impressively grow by an additional US$400 billion to US$600 billion a year by 2030 from 2020 levels. 

However, Asean manufacturers may risk falling behind as they face disruption from newer technologies, and more recently, pressure from a pandemic that has changed the world economy. Manufacturing and the supply chains that support it are under intense stress today and companies will have to look to digitalise through modern information technology (IT) to adapt to newfound changes.

What’s Driving Modernisation in Manufacturing?

What sets manufacturing apart from other industries is that the drive for modernisation is not led by the workforce needing to adapt to remote or hybrid work environments. It is also not about reducing costs. Instead, many manufacturers are re-examining their IT models because of the impact of the pandemic and the cascading effects on our world at-large.

According to Nutanix’s Third Annual Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI), three out of four (75 percent) manufacturing respondents claim COVID-19 has caused IT to be viewed more strategically in their organisations, and also sharply increased their cloud investments. 

The emphasis on this in Asean is evident. Indonesia’s Ministry of Industry announced the ‘Making Indonesia 4.0’ initiative that aims to revolutionise industries, especially manufacturing. The roadmap outlines collaborative actions among multiple stakeholders and the adoption of technologies such as Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence. Meanwhile in Singapore, the Government announced a three-pronged strategy to help the nation’s manufacturing sector grow 50 percent by 2030, with a focus on technology, innovation and research and development. 

The Need for Hybrid and Multicloud Infrastructure

Additionally, Nutanix’ ECI report revealed that most manufacturing IT professionals (87 percent) believe a hybrid and multicloud infrastructure is the best IT operating model for the business. In fact, more manufacturers are running hybrid cloud than any other industry today, with about 18 percent penetration.

This shift is not short-term. Manufacturers reported plans to more than double their hybrid usage within three years and grow their deployments to about 52 percent penetration within five years. This leap toward modernisation will reshape traditional manufacturing practices and accelerate digital transformation across the industry, but the journey will require a concentrated effort from industry leaders.

In the wake of the pandemic, business leaders are tasked with reconsidering standard business procedures, particularly how they align with protecting employees through social distancing practices while still maintaining production output. This stands true till today, especially with multiple waves of infections and the new delta variant driving national lockdowns across ASEAN. 

Manufacturers believe hybrid and multicloud will help with this transition. According to the ECI, manufacturing companies adopt the model to better meet business requirements (62 percent), gain greater control of IT resource usage (60 percent), and increase speed to deliver on business needs (53 percent). Industry 4.0, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, is underway, and the transition to hybrid cloud offerings will automate current backend operations, freeing up resources to invest in other modern smart technology. 

A Long Journey Ahead for Full Transformation

Despite the strong push for transition to hybrid cloud architectures, the manufacturing industry has some ways to go. Currently, 15 percent of global manufacturers still run exclusively traditional, non-cloud-enabled datacentres.

Manufacturing has yet to turn ‘smart’ as most manufacturers are just utilising individual digital production tools. Digitalisation and modernisation in manufacturing companies in ASEAN will not really match up to the pace of other industries unless there is serious review of current production methods, and this means a relook across the process including how products are designed, assembled, and delivered.

To make a real transition to smart manufacturing, companies will need to eliminate legacy datacentre installations, and shift towards hybrid multicloud models. Doing so will offer features that can enhance all operations, from planning to the supply chain. This change also opens doors to introducing automated processes, and other technologies such as robotics, reducing unnecessary costs, increasing production yield, and allowing workers to focus on efficiency and quality rather than output. 

One company that is making good progress in digital transformation is Alliance Contract Manufacturing (ACM) in Malaysia. A manufacturer of precision parts, assembly products and mechatronics modules, ACM adopted cloud technology to host their critical business applications and gain the agility needed to embrace Industry 4.0 and pivot in the face of new opportunities. When the pandemic struck, ACM could do just this. The IT team was empowered to move at the speed of the business, reconfigured networks and made the necessary adjustments to ensure that staff could access business applications remotely and securely. With the cloud, ACM was able to minimise disruptions and continue running its business as they transitioned to the new normal. 

Similarly, Toyota Motor in Japan built a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure environment on a cloud platform. This allowed the company to run its 3D CAD Design Software remotely, delivering new ways of working for its Engineering Design Group. 

IT modernisation can realistically help manufacturers build efficiency and raise productivity as they build automation in their processes in the era of Industry 4.0. Hybrid multicloud strategies represent the digital engines that power this progress, and manufacturers that are leveraging these have also come up above their competitions.

For Asean to emerge a manufacturing powerhouse, manufacturers here will need to tap on the future of hybrid multicloud to unlock new opportunities and gain the agility needed to overcome uncertainties ahead.

Source: The Business Times (Singapore)

Date: 8 November 2021

Reference: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/asean-business/why-should-asean-manufacturers-take-the-lead-in-it-modernisation

Shanghai, China — The Center for International Trade Expositions and Mission (CITEM) brings 40 Filipino food manufacturers and specialty companies to the China International Import Expo (CIIE) at the National Exhibition Center on 5 November 2021.

The exhibition welcomes various import-export sectors including Food and Agricultural Products, Automobile, Intelligent Industry & Information Technology, Consumer Goods, Medical Equipment & Healthcare Products, and Trade in Services. This fourth edition of the event has brought in 3,000 offline exhibitors from 127 countries. The Philippines will be represented under the FOODPhilippines banner, which is CITEM’s signature brand for Filipino food promotions in the international market. In order to maximize the country’s participation, the FOODPhilippines pavilion will feature multiple food categories including frozen and processed seafood products, frozen and processed fruits, beverages, baked goods and snacks, and condiments.

“China is our top export market holding 27% of the Philippines’ total exports. CIIE is a great opportunity to feature how Filipino products can meet the needs of the Chinese market and also explore other opportunities to further develop economic relations with China,” shares CITEM’s Executive Director, Pauline Suaco-Juan.

Initiated by the Chinese government in 2018, CIIE stands as China’s premier national-level import-themed trade exhibition. In last year’s participation, CITEM reported USD6.17-M worth of onsite booked sales and USD455.689 -M worth of export commitments as a result of the country’s participation.

The country’s pavilion will house 40 Filipino companies namely: AG Grays Farm, Agrinurture Inc., Avante Agri-Products Philippines Inc., B&C Healthy Snack Foods Inc, Castillo Import Export Ventures Inc, Century International (China) Co., CJ Uniworld Corp., Century Pacific Agricultural Ventures Inc., DOLE Asia Holdings Pte Ltd, DOLE Packaged Foods (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Eau de Coco, Eng Seng Food Products, Excellent Quality Goods Supply Co., Fisher Farms, Gerb Golden Hands Trading, Good Sense Food & Juices Corporation, Hancole Corporation, Hijo Resources Corporation, Innovative Packaging, Island Fun Inc, Jegen S.W.E. Enterprises, JNRM Corporation, Jugard Foods Co. Ltd., M. Lhuillier Food Products, Magic Melt Foods Corp, Marigold Manufacturing Corporation, Monde Nissin, Nutri Asia, Oleofats Incorporated, Orich International Traders Inc, Raspina Tropical Fruits Inc, Republic Biscuit Corporation, S&W Fine Foods, See’s International Food Manufacturing Corp., Sunnjef Plantation Inc, Tanduay Distillers Inc, Team Asia Corporation, Uni Steady, Vegetari Vegetarian Products, and Weambard International Technology Inc.

This year is the second time the Philippines will be exploring the hybrid format in CIIE, where the physical exhibition will be complemented with digital components. The FOODPhilippines pavilion will feature QR codes on the product display so interested buyers can explore more about the products and the companies. Digital lookbooks will also be distributed to participants and will be available for download. Given travel restrictions, Philippine-based exhibitors and foreign buyers will have opportunities to connect through online B2B meetings facilitated by CITEM, along with its partner agencies and business support organizations. Specific for this event and the Chinese market, CITEM has also launched FOODPhilippines China Portal (https://foodphilippines.cn/ciie2021/), which is an information platform where potential buyers from China can explore the different exhibitors of CIIE and request B2B meetings. As an added value to exhibitors, CITEM has also enhanced its presence on China’s social media platforms — Weibo and WeChat, where the agency promotes Filipino products and services to a broader Chinese demographic. For year round access to more exhibitors, CITEM launched IFEXConnect (www.ifexconnect.com) last 23 September 2021 which makes thousands of Filipino export goods more discoverable and accessible to a global audience.

The FOODPhilippines participation in CIIE 2021 is organized in partnership with the Foreign Trade Services Corps (FTSC) through the Philippine Trade & Investment Centers (PTICs) in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong and the Export Marketing Bureau (EMB). Government partners are the Department of Agriculture (DA) through the Office of the Agricultural Counsellor in Beijing (DA-OAC- Beijing) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). The project is likewise supported by business associations such as the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PHILEXPORT) and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII). ♦

The 2021 Hybrid National Food Fair successfully completed its year-long program to assist Filipino MSMEs engaged in the food industry with a physical event held at the Festival Mall in Alabang, last 15-24 October 2021. This face-to-face selling event is part of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) initiatives to support the reopening of the economy.

In a simple program last 20 October 2021, DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez noted in his keynote address, delivered by Usec. Blesila Lantayona of the Regional Operations Group (ROG), that: “The food industry has proven to be one of the most dynamic and resurgent through these past 18 months. The ability of food entrepreneurs to quickly pivot to the online marketplace and provide a valuable service to their communities is nothing short of heroic.”

Sixty-four (64) MSMEs participated in the physical component of the National Food Fair. A PINASarap Food Hub showcased the products of participating exhibitors along with a QR Code that provides information about their company name and booth location. At the same time, MSMEs who could not be physically present at the event venue were also featured in the virtual hub with their QR Codes linking to their online store and Facebook business page.

The 10-day physical event of the 2021 Hybrid National Food Fair generated some PHP13.6-million in revenues for the participating exhibitors. Some of the best-selling products were banana chips, virgin coconut oil and other coconut-based products, fresh seafoods, healthy lemon grass drink, and kitchen decors and handicrafts. The top performing exhibitors were: Bahaghari Global Food, Inc., Gold in Grass, CocoPlus Development Corporation, Cerra Furniture and Home Décor, and Gloria’s Delicacies.

In his inspirational message, Usec. Abdulgani M. Macatoman of the DTI-Trade Promotions Group summarized the year-long program of the 2021 Hybrid National Food Fair, which included online webinars to facilitate the digital transformation of MSMEs, online food fairs in partnership with e-commerce platforms Shopee and Lazada as well as farm-to-table website mayani.ph, and the National Food Fair Digital Mall on UnionBank GlobalLinker.

“Through the year-long activities under the 2021 Hybrid National Food Fair, we hope that we have fulfilled our mission to broaden the exposure of our food entrepreneurs and introduce their products not just domestically, but possibly even beyond our borders to reach customers abroad,” concludes Usec. Macatoman.

The 2021 Hybrid National Food Fair was organized by the DTI-Bureau of Domestic Trade Promotion in collaboration with the DTI-Regional Operations Group. Through the National Food Fair Digital Mall, foodies can continue to enjoy the regional delicacies and other culinary products by shopping online on https://nff.linker.store.

For more information, please follow the social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You may also email Director Marievic M. Bonoan at bdtp@dti.gov.ph. 

In the 20 months since the COVID-19 pandemic began, technological innovations have gone from futuristic to familiar. These days it’s hard to be out in the world without encountering QR-coded menus or supplying digital vaccine passports.

As the tourism industry—which logged a billion fewer international arrivals in 2020 than 2019—sputters back to life, masks may begin to disappear, but many pandemic-era tech tools will continue to factor into your trips.

“Consumers will come to expect technologies that make them more confident about travel,” says Steve Shur, the president of the Travel Technology Association. “Some of these changes are here to stay.”

In fact, a 2021 Pew Research survey of 915 policy leaders, science researchers, and other experts predicts that, by 2025, our daily lives could be even more influenced by algorithms, remote work, and what some call “tele-everything.”

While novel interventions such as real-time translation devices and facial recognition passport control may make travel safer and more efficient, there are downsides, including concerns about privacy, data security, and biased technology. Here are some of the innovations that travelers will continue to see and use.

Virtual and augmented reality

When the pandemic shut down travel, museums and tourist destinations turned to augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to create online exhibits and experiences. While some of these experiences are best seen with a VR headset, most can be enjoyed with just a computer or smartphone.

The Xplore Petra app launched in June 2020, allowing users to “visit” Jordan’s most iconic archaeological site by projecting a scaled-down version of the ruins. Lights over Lapland, an Arctic travel company, launched a VR experience to show off the Northern Lights using VR headsets or computer screens.

Post-pandemic, VR and AR may enhance actual trips by adding experiences such as a simulated climb up the Matterhorn at Lucerne’s Swiss Museum of Transport. The Hunt Museum in Limerick, Ireland, has a VR attraction in which visitors immerse themselves in “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” a 500-year-old painting by Hieronymus Bosch.

The Museum of Natural History in Paris has an AR exhibit that brings visitors face to face with extinct animals in digital form. The National Museum of Singapore has an installation called “Story of the Forest,” where sightseers explore a virtual landscape comprised of almost 70 nature drawings from the museum collection. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, in Washington, D.C., has an app that uses AR to show what some of its animal skeletons would look like with skin and muscle over the bones, offering a new view of a collection dating back to the 1880s.

“VR is not going to replace travel and tourism. It is just going to enhance tourism,” says Anu Pillai, who runs the Digital Center of Excellence at Wipro, a technology company.

Crowd control

To help enforce social distancing, cities, airports, and museums tested or rolled out crowd-control technology including Singapore’s roaming, vaguely terrifying robots that announce people are too close together and signs indicating how large crowds are at airport gates. As throngs of travelers return to popular destinations, similar methods and devices may be implemented to prevent overtourism.

In Italy during the pandemic, Venice began tracking visitors using cameras designed to catch criminals. Post-pandemic, it plans to harness them to keep tourist numbers at manageable levels, perhaps in concert with the mayor’s proposal to add electronic gates at major entry points (cruise ship docks, train stations) that can be closed if the city gets overcrowded.

“We know minute by minute how many people are passing and where they are going,” Simone Venturini, Venice’s top tourism official, told the New York Times. “We have total control of the city.”

Amsterdam, which also struggles with overtourism, tracks how visitors use Amsterdam’s City Card, a flat-fee pass to museums and public transport. Beach Check UK launched this summer with real-time information on how busy dozens of beaches are along the English coast, guiding travelers away from packed areas.

“Technology can be used to collect data in order to both make better decisions and communicate those decisions,” says Christopher Imbsen, director of sustainability at World Travel & Tourism Council.

UV-C cleaning

Hospitals have used UV-C light to disinfect and kill viruses for more than two decades. Now, indoor public spaces including airports, gyms, and movie theaters are adding UV-C to halt viral spread.

“UV-C is having its heyday right now,” says Peter Veloz, CEO of UltraViolet Devices, which makes UV disinfecting technology.

UV-C has germicidal properties that combat COVID-19 and other nasties, both in the air or on surfaces. Depending on the location, new UV-C installations go into HVACs, on escalator handrails, or through airports and planes via light-equipped robots that disinfect as they go.

If installed and operated correctly, a UV-C system can kill all sorts of bacteria and germs. Even seasonal flu bugs might be zapped before they spread. “COVID-19 could come and go, but what won't disappear are normal pathogens,” Veloz says.

QR codes at restaurants

In the early days of the pandemic, when transmission of the COVID-19 wasn’t yet well understood, restaurants hurried to provide QR codes. The little black boxes of pixelated dots and dashes could be scanned with a smart phone to bring up a menu, let you order from it, and then allow you to pay your bill, all with limited virus-spreading interactions with servers.

While earlier fears that people could catch the virus via menus and other surfaces have been disproven, the codes have proven convenient and will probably stick around, especially with late-pandemic worker shortages.

Such convenience might mean a trade off with privacy, however, since the little codes can potentially gather a large amount of information from users. Some QR programs just take a food order, but others mine data like a patron’s dining history, age, and gender. The restaurant could use that info to send them coupons or event invitations—or sell it to third parties.

“It’s an example of companies exploiting COVID-19 to extend tracking,” says Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the ACLU. “Moving everything to mobile opens people to new ways of tracking and control.”

Travelers should know that QR codes can be hacked; you might scan one, place a dinner order, and wind up compromising your credit card instead. Stanley recommends treating QR codes just as you do links in unknown emails. Either use your phone to look up the restaurant’s menu on the internet or install a protective app like Kaspersky QR Scanner, which will give users a warning if the code isn’t safe.

Contact-tracing tools

Public health groups used contact tracing methods to identify and track down people who were potentially exposed to infectious diseases such as Zika and HIV, and offer counseling, screening, and treatment. These traditional tools were usually based on phone calls to ask individuals about who they were in contact with and to continue researching exposure. The pandemic pushed officials to scale up such efforts and implement new, higher-tech ones to track viral spread and provide information. 

For instance, Apple and Google added contact-tracing functions to new smartphone software, allowing users to opt in and get alerts if they come into close contact with an infected person.

“There’s been a strong recognition about the value of and the important role of contact tracing for infectious disease prevention and control,” says Elizabeth Ruebush, a senior analyst for infectious disease and immunization policy at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. “But we’ve never seen it implemented at the scale of COVID-19.”

Other technologies, such as automated texts, viral heat maps and even CCTV with facial recognition could help track other infectious illnesses or make us ready for the next pandemic.

Even with fancy new apps, however, phone calls and personal outreach will still be at the center of public health. “These tools are aimed to enhance, but not replace, traditional contact tracing,” Ruebush says.

COVID-19 has sped up our adoption of technology. The downside is that this may make it even harder to turn off smartphones while on vacation. Then again, wanderlust is now stronger than ever—and getting lost in the moment still hasn’t been harnessed by a digital code.

One of the most important things in any business is how it is generally regarded by the rest of the world. This includes the customers, of course, but also the general wider public, as well as the partners and competitors in the industry – whatever that industry might be. As it happens, there are a huge number of ways in which businesses can always hope to improve their reputation, and in this article, we are going to go through just a few of the most effective of these in particular. Each of these is worth looking into if you are a business owner yourself.

A physical address does matter 
You’d be amazed at the kind of effect having the right address can have on your business’ reputation. But what counts as a reputable address? Well, it needs to be somewhere that most people regard as trustworthy or otherwise important in the area that you are working within, or the expertise that you have. It also needs to be somewhere that sounds impressive on the page. With the right physical address, everyone is going to think so much more of a business, and this is going to make a huge difference to its ongoing success chances. This is especially important in traditional business settings or if you’re a new company looking to gain some credibility.

Get your branding right
Of course, in order to have a good reputation, branding is very often going to be one of the most important concerns of all, and this is something that is really worth looking into on a regular basis. You’ll find that a good brand is more or less the difference between success and failure most of the time in business, so it really is worth thinking about in detail. To improve branding, make sure it is simple, consistent, and that it makes sense for the business type and services that are offered. This is what really matters all in all.

Be as available as possible
Availability to the public is one of those things that you first learn in business school, and with good reason. The more available a business is in general to people who want to contact it, the more positive the general public’s view of that company will be. There are many ways to make a business more available, from having an open phone line that is looked after well to ensuring that every email is answered promptly. In any case, it’s important to have strong availability at all times, however, that might be achieved.

Create and follow an ethical guideline
These days, it is perhaps more important than ever to be able to display to the public what your ethics are as a business. The more clearly you can do this, the better, as it is going to mean that people are much more likely to appreciate where you’re coming from on the whole. It is particularly important with the millennial and gen Z generations, so if they are your audience you’ll need to make sure you don’t overlook this. Show that you care about people and the planet, and you will do pretty well.

Source: Tech Collective SEA