We all know how easy it is to fall into a routine when things are going well. As long as our bills are getting paid and our close circle is in good health, we tend to fall into an easy pattern where we enjoy what we have and try not to worry about too much beyond that. Preparing for emergencies comes less naturally and generally requires a shock to the system-- whether it be to ourselves or someone close to us-- for us to truly see where we have failed to plan or have underestimated our level of readiness. We tend to live in our own small bubbles, and although we may be ready for unexpected events that affect us on a reasonably micro level, we rely on the government and other established systems already in place to be prepared in the event of a community-wide affair. Hopefully then, if there is a tiny silver lining buried in the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be that society as a whole has received a jolt of reality about our collective level of preparedness and hopefully, an unprecedented crisis such as this can spur a collaborative approach to solving incidents like these going forward. We are realizing that it is essential to be ready on a macro level.
Individuals are learning to work together as communities, and similarly, the opportunity for companies and industries themselves to cross boundaries and cooperate to achieve bigger goals has arisen.
The necessity of collaboration and integration with any technologies and strategies should be the focus of every industry looking to find its part in the solution for global challenges and then its place in a changed, post-COVID world. There are a multitude of ways the wearable tech industry will be essential in tracking, monitoring, and healing people, but new and innovative ideas about how to use the technology may not even come from within the field: a doctor, for example, may wonder aloud why they can’t receive certain data in real-time, or a scientist may wish to track data heretofore unconsidered, or a packing plant supervisor may observe patterns with employees falling ill and with robust communication, the right experts in the right fields will collaborate and solve the problem, possibly in ways they hadn’t even considered from within their individual bubbles. The wearable tech guru hadn’t thought to track unscheduled bathroom break frequency alongside health vitals maybe, but an analyst had noticed a correlation between the increased use of the washroom and high fever, and a manager realized that productivity per hour went down just before an outbreak, and thus with a synergetic approach, there would be a chance to detect flare-ups earlier with expansive, real-time data.
Bursting our everyday bubbles, whether it be individual or industrial, can be the key takeaway from the pandemic, as everyone is forced to act collectively—for a greater good, for a nearly singular purpose. There may have never been a time in history where so many have been driven in the same direction, so now is the time for ideas and aspirations to cross any existing boundaries and drive toward a future that benefits us all.
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