The recent Covid-19 crisis has adversely affected productivity and overall economic growth of our country. The business ecosystem has been severely impacted due to the deadly virus and the subsequent lockdown across globe. Amid the increasing concern over Covid-19, businesses expect negative impact on their commerce in the next 12 months, and for some the adverse impact may last longer, driving organisations to consider workforce optimisation, as per a survey. Undoubtedly, the outbreak is bad for businesses, but for some companies, it has opened a window of opportunity. Several technology-backed businesses in education, agriculture, health, content and essential retail trade are getting tailwinds that may help them post better growth numbers. Interestingly, a large chunk of these businesses – mostly start-ups have received funding from social impact investors.

Below are some of the businesses that shows positive signs of flying high in the coming few months.

AR/VR
The nation-wide lockdown has forced people to socially distance themselves and stay indoors. Companies have adopted new ways of working and working from home has become the new norm. Work in technologies like AR/VR/MR have allowed people to shop, talk, and socialize using these immersive platforms. Even conferences and meetings are witnessing an online transition, which has called for the rising demand for AR/VR technologies. These technologies have cast a spell among working professionals and have been helping firms to facilitate business while ensuring optimal comfort and productivity.

Looking at the increased interest, many companies have shifted their focus towards web AR and VR so that these experiences are just a click away. For instance, they are working on bringing an experience where users can have an AR/VR experience without installing a new application. There has also been a surge in the requirement for virtual events platforms as many events are getting cancelled because of the lockdown. VR technology and other new-age technology like this is now increasingly in demand as business continuity takes priority. Companies selling this are speeding up roll-outs, and also expanding their product lines.

Facial Recognition
Covid-19 has encouraged technology companies to market facial recognition algorithms that work even when someone is wearing a mask. Given the risk of human to human transmission of the coronavirus, many companies are looking to find an alternative for fingerprint scanners. Facial recognition is also being used amid the pandemic to determine if people are following local regulations. In the face of this outbreak, many companies have developed solutions for noncontact body temperature measurement plus face recognition in order to meet the rapid need to diagnose the patient and isolate and control the virus in time.

Many countries such as China and Russia are already pitching for facial recognition to tackle COVID-19 as it avoids the need for many people touching the same surface. In India, companies such as Ramco Systems and Secureye are already observing an increase in the number of enquiries about facial recognition systems.

Cloud Storage and Cloud Computing
Organisations that have moved to cloud have been able to respond to the covid-19 crisis very well. Many companies are moving applications, data and other business elements to the cloud. There has been a surge in demand for certain areas of digital such as virtualisation and cloud with people working from home. While cloud storage is gaining prominence to save files in cloud-based servers, cloud computing is also being looked up to complete projects.

Given the risk of human to human transmission of the coronavirus, many companies are looking to find an alternative for fingerprint scanners

As per industry reports, there has been a visible increase in the demand for cloud storage and computing especially in software and data analytics firms that work with large amounts of data. The increased demand could be attributed to the fact that it brings about an ease of universal accessibility, makes work smarter and faster and ensures hassle-free data storage.

Cyber Security
Given the turn of events in the current Covid-19 scenario, cybersecurity is being seen as a core technology to keep companies secure as they go online and virtual. With work from home becoming the new normal, there are chances of increased cybersecurity threats if proper security measures are not in place. It is essential at this moment to monitor baseline behaviours and any anomalous cyber activity should be looked into in real-time basis. Also, systems and data should also be restricted where possible, with access reviewed and granted to essential teams only. It should also be ascertained that work devices encrypt data at rest and are able to protect data on the device if it is lost or stolen.