{"id":5022,"date":"2020-09-06T20:44:14","date_gmt":"2020-09-06T18:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/?p=5022"},"modified":"2020-09-06T20:44:15","modified_gmt":"2020-09-06T18:44:15","slug":"covid-19-what-does-the-new-normal-mean-for-how-we-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/covid-19-what-does-the-new-normal-mean-for-how-we-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19: What does the \u2018new normal\u2019 mean for how we work?"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time-approximately:<\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Examining the long-term impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic on the world of work, security, privacy and networks<\/strong>.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Cate<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Cate Pye,<\/a>\u00a0PA Consulting<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published: 03 Apr 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impact of\u00a0the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic\u00a0is likely to be with us for far longer than the lockdown \u2013 and will bring many changes to our lives.\u00a0That will start with the way we work. Remote working has been an option for many people for a long time, but has not naturally become the norm or ubiquitous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, reports from China suggest that habits formed during its three months of lockdown are already starting to change behaviours as people return to work. So, what impact are we likely to see from Covid-19 on our use of technology in the short, medium and longer term?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the short term \u2013 accelerating our adoption of technology<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The initial short-term stress of working from home, and having children home from school, has seen huge pressure on the communications infrastructure across the UK and globally.\u00a0Overnight, the ability to work effectively has become dependent on having the right IT kit\u00a0and a decent broadband connection.\u00a0However, communication with colleagues and clients has been improved through easily downloadable apps\u00a0such as MS Teams, Skype and Zoom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have also seen a, perhaps predictable,\u00a0rise in cyber crime\u00a0associated with coronavirus. As everyone moves online and\u00a0lives remotely, people who are less familiar with technology, and those who work with it every day, are equally likely to be targeted by criminals through phishing and SMShing attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These use the usual levers of an \u201curgent\u201d message related, in this case, to coronavirus, to get people to click on links that install malware or request data that enables identity theft.\u00a0Increased vigilance is essential.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Technology is also helping, though:\u00a0to monitor, track and manage the spread of the virus, and analyse data on contagion rates and movement of the infection.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apps have been introduced in countries such as China that track people\u2019s temperature, quarantine, movement and contacts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether this is positive or negative from a personal data point of view, citizens are more likely to sign up for more intrusion into their lives in times of crisis. This may also lead to a re-baselining of\u00a0the level of privacy\u00a0we expect in the medium to longer term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the medium term \u2013 pressing the reset button on working habits<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

It is likely we will see changes to ways of working in the medium term as people\u00a0become accustomed to working from home\u00a0and, over the course of a few months, have set up a functioning \u201chome office\u201d environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will have got used to video-conferencing and have improved connectivity through superfast broadband and 5G \u2013 the key to our working future. The future of professional work is unlikely to revert to five days a week in an office, in a particular location. We are more likely to see\u00a0people working from home\u00a0two to three days a week, using video and teleconferencing as the norm and face-to-face interaction reserved for a specific purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There will be more explicit meeting etiquette to counter delays over video-conferencing, regular team check-ins to make sure everyone is OK when we don\u2019t see them in person, and social interaction will become almost as \u201creal\u201d virtually as it is physically.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Technology, and\u00a0the security of our interactions online, will become more important to everyone.\u00a0This will have some\u00a0positive impacts on the environment\u00a0as we travel less and produce less pollution, but will also significantly reshape parts of the economy such as hospitality and retail \u2013 if people are away from home less, the likelihood is they won\u2019t need those services in the same way they do now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the longer term \u2013 a roll-back in globalisation<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

This brings us to the longer-term impact of today\u2019s changes. We are likely to see a roll-back in globalisation as nations seek to be self-sufficient in strategic goods, such as medicines rather than toilet rolls. But the move to more online shopping and social interaction online is likely to see demand for technology increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may well see a reduction in urban density as people who previously felt they had to be in a city to work at their office, spend more of their time working from homes in suburbia or the countryside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will be physically further apart, so virtual connectivity will, again, become more important. This will increase the attack surface for cyber criminals, but could be countered\u00a0if we become more cyber-savvy\u00a0as we use technology more and technology providers build secure-by-design systems.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A potential upside of this, with\u00a0greater investment in broadband and 5G, is that the \u201clevelling up\u201d that the government is aiming for between the North and South could be expedited as location becomes less important for professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This doesn\u2019t help those who still have to travel to warehouses or factories to work, but online services may start to open up distribution centres in more locations, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will see the behaviours we adopt now shaping the norm of the future.\u00a0While the true impact of Covid-19 on the global population remains to be seen, the acceleration of our adoption of technology can be predicted now \u2013\u00a0and we need to respond positively to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time-approximately:<\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>Examining the long-term impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic on the world of work, security, privacy and networks. By Cate Pye,\u00a0PA Consulting Published: 03 Apr 2020 The impact of\u00a0the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic\u00a0is likely to be with us for far longer than the lockdown \u2013 and will bring many changes to our lives.\u00a0That will start with the way we work. Remote working<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,32,4,3,74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-normal-courtesy-of-covid-19","category-covid-19-global-responses","category-datacenter-news","category-industry-news-and-expert-advise","category-it-strategy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5022"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5042,"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5022\/revisions\/5042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}