COVID-19 is neither the first nor the last pandemic to strike us. More of such massive disruptions await us on the path of time. Just like COVID-19, the future pandemics also risk increasing the chasm of inequality between communities and countries. While the developed parts of the world may sail through the disruptions, the lesser privileged societies may get relegated further into misery, due to interruptions in healthcare, education and manufacturing sector. The only antidote to such tectonic shifts is a resilient connectivity infrastructure, that can keep the vital organs of society functioning while the larger body goes for a treatment. A reliable connectivity system can help bridge the pandemic-induced inequalities and close the economic and digital divide between nations, as evident from experiences of various countries during the current pandemic.
Enabling unhindered education
Sudden closure of schools and colleges, combined with the utter lack of preparation for such scenarios, highlighted the unequal access to remote schooling among countries. UNICEF study says 1.2 billion schoolchildren got affected by school closures, as inequalities in access to remote education tools impeded learning for students. Today, in 71 nations, less than 50 percent of population has access to internet. World Bank report in 2020 reported developing countries like Argentina, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Rwanda and South Africa among many others leveraging television for broadcasting remote education modules during COVID-19 pandemic. Undoubtedly, the next disruption will need us to be better prepared, which is where internet connectivity becomes crucial.
Source: Azevedo (2020)
UNICEF data from 14 countries supports this as it highlights that schoolchildren with internet access have better foundational reading skills than children lacking access. The near future will need nations to accelerate their 5G adoption and establish critical infrastructure for enabling internet penetration into remote corners and facilitating online education in times of crises. 5G in developing nations can allow for connectivity of remotest locations and streamlining of administrative processes such as attendance monitoring. Fixed Wireless Access will enable high-speed broadband for last mile internet access to rural regions. For instance, Ericsson partnered with Vermont Telephone to help high-school students of Rutland with mobile internet within 10 days, despite the city lacking sufficient broadband connectivity for remote learning.
Connected predictive healthcare
The next pandemic won’t have mercy on our healthcare infrastructure either. The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked a havoc on the outpatient care departments worldwide. Research conducted by Harvard University and Phreesia shows that the number of visits to ambulatory practices fell approximately 60 percent by early April 2020 in the United States. Since then, a rebound has occurred, however the number of visits is still roughly one-third lower compared to the scenario before the pandemic.
Source: Ateev Mehrotra et al., “The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Visits: A Rebound Emerges”
An acute shortage of medical equipment and personnel wreaks a calamity over the health of a country’s citizens, all the more in developing worlds. Future disruptions can leave the non-infected unwell people at the mercy of luck; unless the developing nations begin investing in building an interconnected and integrated telemedicine system, driven by 5G infrastructure. 5G has potential to drive real-time, high-quality video for remote medical consultations and provide patient’s high-quality imaging for examination without the wait for doctors. Remote patient monitoring today is largely constrained by the capacity of existing networks to handle data, which will be addressed by 5G or a higher standard. To ensure a robust healthcare system despite the upheaval in medical infrastructure, investments in high-capacity connectivity are indispensable.
Autonomous manufacturing
The pandemic shattered transportation links and distribution mechanisms across the supply chain, disabling manufacturing due to absence of shop floor workers. Future disruptions driven by pandemics will damage the manufacturing sector the same way, unless it grows independent of human presence.
Digital manufacturing capabilities promise to combine social distancing with production process, which enables continuous manufacturing with remote assistance from shop floor workers. Kiva robots, for example, are being used for autonomous warehousing by several big firms. Few hospitals are catching up in use of robots for drug delivery and patient monitoring. Digital Twin technology is helping shop floor workers and engineers to collaborate virtually for understanding how machines work, while enhanced reality applications are enabling workers to connect virtually and repair machines with steps displayed on augmented reality platforms. By leveraging Internet-of-Things (IoT), machines can talk to factory managers and alert them of any impending malfunction, thereby driving predictive maintenance. Autonomous manufacturing and preventive maintenance make manufacturing more robust and resilient to disruptions. However, exchange of massive volumes of data and real-time processing will necessitate the use of high-capacity, high-data rate, ultra-low latency and ultra-low energy communications networks. 5G makes it possible, especially in developing nations where economy depends on volume of production and supply.
5G for developing worlds
Developing nations are largely 3G or 4G dependent, which makes a technology leap to 5G quite challenging. Installation of towers, antenna to host base stations and other inter-connectivity accessories, along with optical fiber connectivity for back-haul portion put extreme stress of financial resources of developing nations. Increased network density has its own share of financial and environmental challenges. While the use cases of 5G look highly promising for developing and least developed nations, connectivity transformation cannot be ushered without adequate financial and technical support from international bodies.
Governments of these countries need to build an ecosystem of partnerships with research bodies and leading technology firms, that can bring their expertise and vision for launching 5G trial networks in such nations.
Cisco is driving an ambitious 29-partner consortium called “5G RuralFirst” in the U.K. for enabling rural connectivity. The 5G RuralFirst testbed spans across 2,000 square km in and around the Orkney Isles and to demonstrate the full potential of 5G and use of the IoT in rural communities.
The future of resilience building to natural and artificial disruptions depends largely on how well we connect humans, machines and everything under the sun. The more lives our networks can touch, the more lives we can impact in the times of need.
