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RESEARCH
ANALYSIS
TRENDS

Covid-19: CIO of the Year?

There has certainly not been a shortage of anecdotes Remote Working
on how COVID-19 should be declared the CIO of the
year. I have been in many conversations that have A remote workforce is no longer a novelty. In May
variously blamed or credited the pandemic as being the 2018, Zug, Switzerland service office provider, IWG,
single most significant event that has gotten found that 70% of professionals worldwide are already
organizations scrambling to rethink business models working remotely.
and accelerate their digital transformation – something
that had previously been at the back of the mind, now While working from home is seen as advantageous by
pushed to the forefront of every business decision. many employees, on the contrary, companies may lack
the technological infrastructure to run without disrupting
The old adage – operations. Continued success not only rests on the
necessity is the mother of ability to pivot processes but also company cultures. In
invention – seems more China, when the government encouraged millions to
COVID-19 apt than ever, as the remain at home, Chinese companies could immediately
world starts to reconfigure adapt due to technological capabilities. Even so,
its approach to work, company cultures were simply not ready, resulting in
education, entertainment other unexpected social and mental health issues.
and, more fundamentally, well-being. Businesses have
begun experimenting with previously untested methods In Malaysia, as the gig economy continues to gain
and mechanisms – and this in turn opened the momentum, employers will have to reassess rigid work
floodgates to accessing digital tools for solutions. policies that would have been crafted in times when
Beyond business operations and Work-From-Home work was centralized. In the interest of long-term
initiatives, it has expanded to on-demand food and effectiveness, even organizations that revert to pre-
services, telemedicine and online financial services. COVID-19 work practices must transform so they are
prepared for a whole new environment.
As the dust settles after COVID-19, questions will arise
as to how businesses and the workforce will bounce Innovations in Telehealth, Telemedicine
back into the new normal. In fact, the first question to
arise will be what the new normal looks like. One of the first instance of innovation I noticed during
the early stages of the pandemic was the Corona-
For organizations that have boxed themselves in with Tracker app, created by a team of researchers in
operations-as-usual at the expense of digitalizing their Malaysia.
business and long-term resilience, the current
pandemic is a bolt from the future. Businesses that Telehealth and telemedicine are now getting attention
have shifted to digital platforms will better mitigate the as well. The government’s move to quickly adopt
effect of the outbreak and will more likely ensure technology and transform by developing virtual health
smooth operations immediately after the MCO and over advisories and using live chats and webinars is in line
the long term. with this. Malaysia’s telemedicine blueprint, crafted in
the late 90s, envisioned a time when patients could

April 2020: Social Commerce & Influencer Marketing: social shopping as the future of commerce 8