Dickson Igwe, socio-political columnist
When men and women began to get ill with the Covid 19 virus in early 2020, little did the world know the length, depth, and scope of change to be visited upon humanity, in the following years.
It is early 2022. Covid 19 is as present, contagious, and as toxic as ever. The Delta and Omicron variants are the latest form of the disease, afflicting millions across the globe.
Everything has changed. And we all better get ready for a new approach to the way we work, play, relax, travel, and learn.
It is projected that new variants will derive from the present pandemic, going into the near future: at least 5 years into the future from today.
Welcome to the world of zoom and working from home.
Online trading and entertainment will drive commerce and industry for the present generation.
Online learning will become the norm. Home schooling supported by tutorials is increasingly an option.
Travel for the unvaccinated will be closed off for a decade, and pandemic protocols will drive greater inequality in the global marketplace.
Criminal activity will migrate from the streets to the internet as the new world of scam and virtual crime, is revealing. The new gangster is the computer whizz, adept at hacking into bank accounts.
The rulers of this bold new world will be the men and women who control the internet: multi-billionaires operating from their mega yachts, private jets, and hundred million dollar mansions.
Governments must be even more proactive, or lose control of the narrative.
For example, recognizing that online learning will become the norm will mean a new approach: designing an adaptable and creative curriculum, and a pioneering educational culture, far different from what the world is used to.
The classroom at the center of learning may well be a relic of the past. Tomorrows classroom will be a computer and a desk, in a quiet corner of the home; add a hand held device and smart phone.
The entrepreneur who fails to understand the ubiquitous nature of internet trading and commerce will not last long, in any industry, especially in the age of COVID, where the marketplace is increasingly virtual.
Entertainment has already moved to the computer screen and hand held device.
How Hollywood and Broadway, and their counterparts around the world adapt to the age of COVID through the use of technology and the internet, will decide the future of the entertainment industry.
In the age of COVID there will be winners and losers. To dwell in the winners’ camp requires a mindset that places innovation and science at the center of every aspect of human activity.
The pre- covid ways will not work in the new age of COVID, and beyond.
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Dickson Igwe is an education official in the Virgin Islands. He is also a national sea safety instructor. He writes a national column across media and has authored a story book on the Caribbean: 'The Adventures of a West Indian Villager'. Dickson is focused on economics articles, and he believes economics holds the answer to the full economic and social development of the Caribbean. He is of both West African and Caribbean heritage. Dickson is married with one son.
