True Onset of Digital Age

The whole world is under the grappling effect of the pandemic lock down and is setting a path of shift in terms of new world orders. Every major catastrophe or a change in the needs has evolved the human species from the Stone Age to the Industrial Age. Today mankind is staring at something which is not under control nor there seems to be any real solution apart from social distancing. 

This raises few daunting questions

How long will this continue?

Will such viruses keep coming due to mutation?

If they keep resurrecting, how do we survive?

These are questions with no concrete answers. If such things keep happening, how long can we survive with our resources or stocks depleting.  Our critical needs for survival are food, clothing, shelter & medication. To support these we need to have all the support mechanisms such as farming, food processing, textile, transport, fuel, security and many more up and running. For all these to happen we need people to work. And if you look at the other way every individual needs to work & earn for his family to avail all those basic amenities.

The answer lies within us. Social distancing can be the new order of the world leading the true transformation from Industrial Age to the Digital Age. A Digital Age governed by discipline and responsibility.

The current pandemic is showing us a path where businesses can operate from homes. With digital tools it is possible to operate from homes. Apart from online Meetings, reporting, scheduling tasks the advent of Artificial Intelligence is paving innovative ways to monitor activities, recognize skills, optimize resources & train them. This will lead to decongestion of business districts, housing districts, clusters of houses or condos in cities or city suburbs. This in turn will reduce the daily rush to reach offices and back leading to social distancing and a cleaner air to breathe.  Social distancing means no viruses; either air borne or touch spread can be transmitted.

Also the contribution from employees working from home can increase since they can dedicate more time towards work. Critics would ask, “Will they be productive?”  What if the employee works from an office and is a non performer? With so many online HR tools available an employee’s performance is measurable from any location. Except those in Manufacturing, Transport, Infrastructure, Hospitality, logistics, Medical services or any such services were on the ground staff are needed, can be operated remotely. Surprisingly courts in India have switched to video conferencing until further notice.

What is needed is a change in the colonial mindset that businesses can operate out of offices. With the growth of technology distances have shrunk and reach is widespread.  This will also bring down huge expenses on real estates and other related operational expenses.

Employees will be more motivated since their travel time is reduced, spends more time with their family which will help reduce the stress levels. This whole idea of working from home is not a new concept. This has happened during ad hoc situations for a short duration.

With a global recession looming large, the option of adopting technology to create work spaces from home will increase profit margins by the way of reducing opex.  Also as a result of remote operations social distancing reduces the spread of any virus and pollution and saves fuel which results in giving us a greener planet.  

The objective of this write-up is not to impose anything but to create a step towards a greener planet through eco-friendly adoptions by businesses and healthy way of living.

The writer of this blog is Karthi Jayaraman, CEO of  Socialmedia Guerrillas, a Digital Marketing Agency since 2011. Reach me at karthi3270@gmail.com