A new report from Strategy Analytics, “The Impact of COVID-19 on Enterprise and the IoT,” identifies how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted industries of all sizes across a multitude of vertical markets, identifying key challenges as businesses reopen, as well as opportunities in the IoT, especially areas such as Telehealth, Automation, Spatial Computing, Digital Twins, Supply Chains, UAVs and Robotics.
The research group says the COVID-19 pandemic has created a new environment for citizens, companies and governments. Many businesses have pivoted to digital commerce, by expanding existing offerings and creating new lines of service, which has forced organizations to revisit and even reimagine their digital strategies to capture new marketplace opportunities and digital customer segments.
“At the same time, the need to protect people from the virus has created new opportunities in the IoT, including Telemedicine, wearables in the workplace, automation (supported by AI and Machine Learning), spatial computing, Digital Twins (for products and supply chains), as well as UAVs,” observed Andrew Brown, executive director of Enterprise and IoT Research at Strategy Analytics and author of the report.
He adds that the scale of this pandemic has created an unprecedented situation: the rapid growth of test, track and trace has revealed a vast amount of information on people and has raised serious questions about data privacy and the lines between individual data ownership and state responsibility.
“Unfortunately COVID-19 has also created opportunities for malicious actors, who have used the pandemic to launch cyberattacks. Others have used track and trace confusion to steal information from individuals. Companies are also concerned that the rapid surge in remote working will lead to increased pressure from cyber-attacks and data fraud,” says Gina Luk, principal analyst for Enterprise Research at Strategy Analytics.
