The Digital Economy is no longer a just a concept, but rather an operational reality for more and more firms, research firm IDC told its attendees at its annual Directions conference this week. In a variety of presentations, analysts discussed how technology is impacting enterprises and the overall economy, with the research firm predicting that within three years, more than half of global GDP will be driven by "digitally transformed" enterprises.

Because of concerns about the coronavirus, the conference was held online, and IDC President Crawford Del Prete said the group now expects that IT growth in 2020 will probably end up at 2.5 to 3 percent, a couple points lower than the firm was expecting before the virus outbreak.

Del Prete said the digital economy is increasingly being driven by more powerful platforms, with ecosystems gaining lots of developers, as well as buy-in from major enterprises. As a result, he said innovation has accelerated, particularly the ability to target the specific needs of customers.

We are moving to a more data driven world, but success involves transforming data into insights. Customers today expect engagement, personalization and simplicity, and it is incumbent among suppliers to provide these capabilities.

He described the "fast five" big trends of today's digital economy.

AI is everywhere, with the technologies being incorporated into more and more products. Everyone is a developer, with more people able to create applications and more applications being created today than ever.

The cloud is no long seen as a location, but rather as a platform, which includes edge devices and needs to be managed. Trust now includes more than just security. Customers want to work with you to create automated solutions as quickly as possible.

Riffing off the common comment that "data is the new oil," he said, "Data will no longer be viewed as 'oil,' but as water. It is essential for life but needs to be accessible and clean."

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source: uk.pcmag

Coronavirus! Yes, it's a serious situation, and yes, it deserves your vigilance and attention.

But the constant spring of information, precautions and warnings, whether it's straight from the CDC or some recirculated, dubiously-sourced post on Facebook, can take a real toll on your mental health.

When does caution become overreaction? When does staying informed cross the line into, well, too much information?

The good news is, there is a happy medium between willfully ignoring the biggest story in the world right now, and going into a full-on panic.

Here are some tips. Think of it like hand-washing and social distancing, but for your brain.

Pare down your sources of information

"There is a ton of information out there. The challenge is trying to determine which information is accurate." says Lynn Bufka, Associate Executive Director for Research and Policy at the American Psychological Association. She suggests taking control of your intake through the following steps:

• Find a few sources you trust and stick with them. Choose one national or international source like the CDC, and another local nor national source so you can know what's going on in your community.
• Limit the frequency of your updates.Things may be changing rapidly, but that doesn't mean you need to hang on every update. Think of it this way: If there is a tornado coming your way, you need information as soon as possible. The coronavirus is not a tornado. This may mean disabling constant notifications from news sites or social media.
• Know when to walk away. "Try to get used to not knowing every little thing, and feeling okay with uncertainty," says Bufka.
• She recommends getting your phone off your person so you're not tempted to check it. Bufka says she leaves her phone on a charging station when she gets home so it's not constantly with her, beckoning with new information.
• Practice social media self discipline.No, it's not easy to limit time on social media.
• But chances are, the churn of information and commentary you get from friends and acquaintances on your Facebook feed is more incessant than actual updates from news or health organizations. Bufka recommends uninstalling social media apps so it's harder to get to the content, or using tools to limit your aimless scrolling.

Name your fears

A pandemic is a rather abstract villain, so it may help to sit down and really consider what specific threats worry you. Do you think you will catch the coronavirus and die? "The fear of death taps into one of our core existential fears," says Bufka. "But you have to think about what your fear is, and how realistic it is." Consider your personal risk and how likely it is that you will actually come in contact with the virus.

And, even if your greatest fear is realized and you or someone you love does fall ill, you may not have really thought about what comes next. Yes, you may get it. Yes, you may need treatment. But in all likelihood, hope is still not lost. "We tend to overestimate the likelihood of something happening, and we tend to underestimate our capacity to deal with it," Bufka says.

Of course, you could have other, more practical fears. "Some people may worry about what would happen if they were moved into self quarantine, or if they're not able to work. They're wondering if they would have access to groceries or childcare," says Bufka. "Again, people have greater abilities to manage hardships than they think they do. Think about a plan. Consider options if you can't telework. Do you have savings? Do you have support?" Being prepared for your fears will help keep them in scale.

Think outside yourself

Since action can allay our anxieties, you may want to also consider what you can do to help others who may be more affected by the outbreak than you. Service workers, medical workers, hourly workers and people in the restaurant or entertainment industries may have their livelihoods paralyzed or have to put themselves in disproportionate danger. "It will be important for us as communities to think about how to support these individuals whose lives are going to be disrupted," Bufka says. "How can we even this burden and support those who have less options?"

After all, most of the precautions put in place to help stall the spread of the virus aren't just for you, as an individual. They're intended to keep entire communities and vulnerable demographics safe. Doing the same with your own time and care can empower you to see the real effects of the situation, rather than your abstract fears.

Seek support, but do it wisely

People are going to talk. But if you want to run to a friend to discuss the latest outbreak cluster or your family's contingency plans, try not to create an echo chamber. "If you are overwhelmed, don't necessarily go to someone who has a similar level of fear," Bufka says. "Seek out someone who is handling it differently, who can check you on your anxiety and provide some advice."

If you can't seem to get a handle on your thoughts, professional help can be an option. "It doesn't need to be a long-term thing," Bufka says. "It means you can get some guidance for this specific situation."

Pay attention to your basic needs

In short, don't get so wrapped up in thinking about the coronavirus that you forget the essential, healthy practices that affect your wellbeing every day. "In times of stress, we tend to minimize the importance of our foundation when we really should be paying more attention to it," Bufka says. Make sure you are:

• Getting adequate sleep
• Keeping up with proper nutrition
• Getting outside as much a possible
• Engaging in regular physical activity

Practicing mindfulness, meditation, yoga or other forms of self care can also help center you in routines and awareness, and keep your mind from wandering into the dark and sometimes irrational unknown.

Don't chastise yourself for worrying

Finally, don't let guilt be your anxiety's unwelcome companion. You are allowed to worry or feel bad. When discussing how to talk to children about the coronavirus, health experts told CNN people should acknowledge a child's fear and let them know their feelings are valid. Surely, you can afford yourself the same compassion. The key is to work toward understanding and contextualizing your fears so they don't keep you from living your healthiest life.

source: cnn

In the midst of the toilet paper panic, you might be wondering if there’s a way to profit from this madness of the crowd.

Of course, there is. But there’s a better (and perhaps more ethical) way of doing it rather than stockpiling hand sanitizer in your spare room. There are real needs that large markets of people will soon discover. If you can be the first to provide that need, the world will beat a path to your door.

Can you think of the new wants that will result from more people working at home, student classrooms relocating from physical plant to the web and leisure activities moving from arenas and theaters to gaming systems and online movie archives?

Perhaps to grease your creative gears, it will help to explore the quick history of invention through the lens of economic eras. As populations expanded and grew, the need for greater food production increased. To meet this need, creative tinkerers invented tools and machinery to enable greater agricultural efficiencies.

Soon, demand for these tools and machines created a need for greater industrial production. Imaginative logistical thinkers designed new and better manufacturing methods to meet this demand.

Voilà! Bye-bye agricultural age, hello industrial age.

After about a century, it became clear the manufacturing advantage would fall to those who could process data quicker. A need for a machine capable of handling this massive number crunching emerged; thus, the computer was created.

Soon, the industrial economy gave way to our current age: the information economy.

It is this new business of bits and bytes which saw an increased need for faster and more expansive delivery of data. This need allowed a generation-old invention—the internet—to find a niche that exploded the information economy.

As you can see, a specific need triggered each transition from one form of economic activity to another. The results of the conoravirus, and the social distancing policies put in place to prevent further spread of COVID-19, will likely produce a vast array of previously unknown necessities. Maybe some future economic historian will call this period the beginning of the “CoronaEcomony.”

Here is where your entrepreneurial acumen can serve all mankind. Necessity is, after all, the mother of invention.

Does this interest you? Do you suspect you’ll have idle time as a result of going out less? Would you be interested in seeking a way to earn money by delivering newly invented products and services that will benefit your friends, neighbors and perhaps the nation (if not the world)?

Consider how the three behavioral changes defined above may reveal new wants just waiting to be filled.

1: Telecommuting becomes the new norm.

Many suggest remote working will be just temporary. Thought leaders, however, realize the need to work at home will reveal the existence of inefficiencies that exist in the current way of doing things.

Here’s a simple example: the face-to-face directors meeting. This has been a norm since the beginning of the industrial revolution when the entity known as the “corporation” became the standard. Directors would gather together for lunch, dinner or some other activity and hold a meeting.

In the past this was a physical meeting. More often than not today, if you want the best directors, you better be able to allow them to videoconference.

Why? Simply stated, the cost in both time and money required of travel does not offset the value-added of meeting face-to-face.

Now translate this metaphor to the office environment. If your job has you working on a computer in a cubicle each day, why can’t that cubicle be in your home? It’ll reduce your cost of traveling to work, of buying lunch every day and the maintenance (and acquisition) of your wardrobe.

At what point do those costs outweigh the benefits of working in close proximity to one another?

Do you see why telecommuting can become the new norm?

What new wants will bubble up as a result of more people working at home? Perhaps a better understanding of how to make their Wi-Fi more efficient. Maybe they’ll want to learn how to cook meals quicker or more elaborately.

A few years ago, Sonja Nenonene shifted from working for an accounting firm to set up her own tax business at home. She expected to need to buy her own office supplies. “What I didn’t expect,” says Nenonene, “was the need for administrative services. I don’t have a big copier at my house, so I had to find an external provider for this. Normally, I would hand this off to someone else to do the printing and mailing.”

Will telecommuting produce an increased demand for virtual assistants, online tech support and web-based training?

To be honest, you shouldn’t expect to find the answer to “undiscovered wants” in a Forbes.com article. (Otherwise they wouldn’t be “undiscovered,” would they?)

#2: Distance learning becomes the new norm.

Online learning was a growing and evolving industry until regulations made it more difficult for the for-profit educational organizations advancing the idea. While the growth has slowed, it never stopped.

Now it may accelerate as not-for-profit institutions are compelled to deliver their product via the internet. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it usually proves difficult to force the genie back into its captivity. These institutions may realize the benefit of accommodating more students by offering online programs.

This has the potential to broaden the availability of the program to students who are less able to afford higher education because online classes will be offered at a lower cost. In addition, by living at home, students would not burden themselves with the cost of room and board and they’ll be able to continue working at home.

Who knows, with the right part-time job, students won’t have to worry about college loans and may even show net earnings as a result.

The trickier aspect is at the secondary school level. While everyone might not be able to be homeschooled, what if school districts offered students the option to go to school at home?

For smaller school districts, this might make more classes available to students. In the past, if not enough students enrolled in a particular course, that course would not be offered. By making the course available online to multiple districts, the chances are greater that the class will meet the minimum enrollment requirements.

Where is the entrepreneurial opportunity for you?

If you have a niche hobby that represents a small slice of a broader curriculum, you might be able to provide online sessions, workshops and even interactive learning experiences. For example, astronomy is but a tiny subset of Earth Science, and few high school teachers have a formal education in the subject.

If you do, and you can get your hands on the curriculum requirements of your state, you can create a package teachers can use (assuming their districts will allow them to buy it).

#3: New types of sports, entertainment and leisure activities.

Despite the safety of social distancing, humans, being human, will always have a need for human interaction. Think of how you socialize (outside of work). You watch sports, go to movies and go out with friends.

Social distancing has cancelled and postponed sports and made attending social events a risky proposition.

It is in this category that we find the highest potential as well as the most relevant existing examples.

Here’s an idea you can’t do but might offer you a template. The NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament has been postponed.

What if the relevant colleges and broadcast networks got together with Take-Two Interactive and created a customized version of their basketball video game. They could then air simulated games as if it were the actual tournament.

You could do the same thing with an online game that allows you to play and record. People are already doing this, but it doesn’t yet have the broad appeal that the NBA and NHL have. If you can package even a neighborhood league, you can begin to attract your own audience.

Have you always wanted to own your own sports team? Now’s your chance.

The same thing applies to your long-standing desire to produce TV shows and movies. With live TV shows going dark and movie theaters empty, get your director’s chair ready!

It’s easier now than it has ever been to start your own YouTube channel or podcast.

Do you see a market that you enjoy and no one is yet serving? This represents a prime-time opportunity for the budding entrepreneur.

Yes, you aren’t alone if you see the current reaction to the coronavirus as socially disruptive. It is.

Don’t look at this period as a “glass half-empty” time.

Put your thinking cap on and see it as a “glass half-full” occasion.

Remember, “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”

Seize this day. Become a Coronapreneur.

source: forbes