‘Digital readiness’ is a term you might’ve not heard of before and if it wasn’t for COVID-19 wreaking havoc all over the world, you wouldn’t have either for a long time. But now you have, so, allow us to give you an insight. Digital readiness refers to the level of readiness an organization possesses to embrace the latest technologies into its line of work.

The digital readiness scales measure a country on seven different components. Starting with basic needs, business and government investment, ease of doing business, human capital, start-up environment, technology adoption, and technology infrastructure. According to the Cisco Digital Readiness Calculator, Australia is one such country that excels in all of these seven categories.

So, what are these techs that can facilitate you with ease even though the testing times of COVID-19? Let’s have a look.

Drone deliveries

Even long before COVID-19 came into the picture, Amazon had been working on making door-to-door deliveries using a drone. It was named Amazon Prime Air. The drone was manufactured, designed, and put to the test in late 2019. The drone has the capability of delivering individual packages within 30 minutes of placing an order.

Any order placed at Amazon that weighed less than 5 pounds that could fit in the cargo box of Amazon Prime Air and has to be delivered within 16km of an Amazon center fits the criteria set by the Amazon personnel. However, the service is not functional as of yet.

Distance Learning

COVID-19 made it possible that you won’t have to drag your wailing kids off from the bed and send them to school after throwing a fit. Thanks to call-conferencing mediums like Zoom and Google Meet, you just have to make sure your kid is present and is taking their class diligently within the confines of their very own bedroom.

By the mid of April 2020, nearly 191 countries decided that for the sake of the protection of the kids, all classes will be taken online and on-campus classes were to be put on hold.

Work-From-Home

If the students weren’t going to school, why would adults have to go office? Are their lives not equally important? Actually no. A number of companies opted for letting their employees do remote work. Making use of technologies like VPNs, collaborative tools, cloud, and other facilities made it easier for them to work from home.

Not only that, this allowed the employees to save up on commute time and to prioritize things in their lives but also for the business to continue as it would be just like any other casual day. Nearly 25% of the salary workers used to work from home between 2017 to 2018.

Cashless Payments

Online banking was the norm way before COVID-19. However, now, the need is more than ever. The scare that even cash notes may carry the dreaded virus, many banks in South Korea and China have placed measures that can ensure banknotes are absolutely clean and free from any virus.

Digital payments through credit cards or e-wallets have facilitated us in this regard. You can place an order and do the online transaction without having to come into contact with the delivery guy. Yet, there are still 1.7 billion people who do not have any sort of bank accounts and could be exposing themselves to the Coronavirus.

Online Entertainment

For all your mind-numbingly boring days, thank God you renewed your subscription to Netflix and contributed to the 40% increase and not just Netflix; with streaming platforms like HBO Max and Disney+, you have access to a variety of shows to browse through, eat popcorn and chill at home.

In fact, the streaming sites are not limited to just TV shows and movies; now, you can even catch up on live streaming of the newest games and web series of your interests.

The latest thing that’s gotten people’s attention is online concerts and the release of the new Chinese films titled Long Day’s Journey into Night and Assassin in Red online.

Telehealth

If you’re deathly scared of going to hospitals because of catching COVID-19, well, lucky for you, we’ve got some good news. As instead of refusing to go to the hospital if you feel sick, you can get a diagnosis right at home using telehealth services.

Your wearable IoT devices can track your vital signs and you can describe your predicament to a Chatbot and it’ll be just like communicating with a doctor. The Chatbot is programmed to check your ailment and prescribe the right medicines to you. No need to leave the house at all.

Home Fitness Products

If you’re worried about the fact that all this time sitting at home and shoveling yourself with food is going to get you fat, well, don’t sweat because we’ve got your back.

Through health fitness apps like Peloton or Fight Camp, you can start your own little gym at home. Pick a routine that you think will work best for you, program it into your app, dedicate that one hour of the day specifically for gym, and before you know it; you’ll be keeping your fitness in check during the whole lockdown period.

Voice command Instructions

With social distancing in full swing, people like having a bigger personal space for themselves. At such times, you’d be more reliant on voice command instructions like that of Siri. Already there have been huge advancements in AI-controlled robots and, in turn, digital assistants.

Customer service centers are employing digital assistant managers to deal with customers politely and deftly. Thus, enhancing the experience and making sure that the customer is completely satisfied. In the near future, AI is a field most would be interested in investing in because it has great potential that needs to be discovered.

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality became a thing through gaming. However, the recent expansion has changed the game itself. Now, VR headsets are being employed to give people a taste in experiencing various destinations from their couch at home, and not only homes, but businesses have also picked up on it.

It is being used to train new employees, test out new scenarios and continue implementing social distancing so that we can be free of corona in the near future.

3D Printing

3D printing has lent a huge helping hand in production and eventually played a role in continuing the supply chain. Instead of hiring part-timers in these corona times, you can get your work done using a 3D printer. This will probably lessen the financial strain on your budget as well.

Let’s be real; you’ve always been fascinated by this technology. But now that you’ve got a real chance at trying it out, you can’t help but be over the moon. For instance, if you’ve got an option between hiring a firm for law essay help and buying a 3D printer, you’re going to opt for the latter because, of course, who’d pass up on such an opportunity.

These technologies were only the tip of the iceberg. Surely, there are many more to come. Thanks to all these techs, we were not rendered completely catatonic during the lockdown.