May 28, 2020
The two world wars are thought of as the most significant events of the last century that permanently changed the world. Without diminishing the enormous tragedy, the legacy oftentimes, goes beyond the millions of lives lost and redrawing of boundaries to the introduction of sophisticated weaponry, and most importantly spurring the development of practical innovations such as; Kleenex, daylight saving-time, blood banks, sanitary pads, drones, computing and satellite technology1. This is not forgetting the setting up of non-profit and/or non-government organizations and supra-bodies that would prefect the world and aid in averting, mitigating and managing crises and disasters.
There is no doubt that the covid-19 pandemic is the single biggest phenomenon that most of the current living generations have ever witnessed. The current disruption will change how we eat, work, shop, exercise, manage our health, socialize, and spend our free time – at an unprecedented rate of change. Its impact on the socio-economic welfare of humans can be said to be the biggest trigger of imminent paradigm shifts. Profound socio-economic changes are beginning to emerge even if at nascent stages. A much-quoted saying goes, “you never waste a good crisis”. The profound pandemonium brought by the Covid-19 pandemic will trigger a wave of coping and adaptive innovations among households, companies and the government.