Covid-19 has irrevocably changed the way businesses will compete over the next decade. Firms that choose to capitalize on these underlying changes will succeed, and the ones that don’t will get disrupted.

Unexpected events such as war, famine and outbreaks were the engine behind innovation during human history. It seems that our current crisis (i.e. COVID-19 pandemics) will shape the way the business operation for years. It may also accelerate and facilitate innovative business ideas. We have already seen the impact of COVID-19 on increasing the popularity of e-commerce.

Below are three areas that we can look at for burst of innovative technologies or business model in the post-COVID era:

• Global supply chain:

The current pandemics exposed the vulnerabilities of our existing supply chain system. We saw shortages of excellent and raw material even to manufacture life-saving equipment such as masks or ventilators. Moreover, we found out that our current supply chain is not responsive enough to face crises such as pandemics. We need a smarter, more responsive and more fine-tuned supply chain to be resilient in a time of crisis. Fortunately, we have the technologies and capital to design and build an intelligent supply chain system, and we can expect to see more innovation in this field.

• Smart cities:

The COVID crisis showed us that many large cities were not prepared to face such a crisis. We realized that the physical and digital infrastructure is not up to date, and we, as a society, need to invest much more in such infrastructures. Therefore, we can expect more investment in areas such as public communication, public health etc. This investment will feed the next wave of innovation in this area.

• “Remote” lifestyle:

Remote business (i.e. online education, working from home) is the first topic that comes to mind of any entrepreneur in the COVID era. However, the disruption will go beyond just remote business, becoming a “lifestyle.” For instance, if we spend more time at our home and less in the office, how will we interact with our colleagues? What will be the impact of a more isolated life on our mental health? How are we going to network with other people? These are just samples of areas impacted by our new “Remote lifestyle” and can be the source for new business ideas.

You can read more about the impact here.