The digital transformation of the economy will happen at an accelerated pace

The five vectors of this transformation: decentralisation of the population; distribution of entertainment; dislocation of work, education and health; delocalisation of the supply chain; and decarbonisation of the economy.

Fernando García, vice-president and general manager of Vertiv Latin America, argues that this crisis has not only confirmed that the way we use technology will change permanently, but also that the digital transformation of the economy will happen at an accelerated pace, giving rise to a hyperconnected society.

“We are living through decisive times, as recent events confirm. The health crisis we face has changed our entire environment, with both social and economic impacts whose consequences are hard to predict; however, now is the time to face these changes and prepare for the tasks ahead,” stressed García.

How is this acceleration showing itself? Concepts such as smart cities, distance learning, remote healthcare and teleworking may have sounded like things of the future, but now, more than ever, these words have become part of our daily lives.

That is why García talks about digital transformation in terms of the 5 Ds, or five vectors of transformation: decentralisation of the population; distribution of entertainment; dislocation of work, education and health; delocalisation of the supply chain; and decarbonisation of the economy. These vectors were expected to take years to develop, but instead this crisis is making each of them develop rapidly before our eyes, in real time.

Decentralisation of the population
As a result of this crisis, governments have had to adopt and accelerate digital services such as e-government and virtual service counters to help citizens in certain situations. The need for greater capacity on their portals has led various governments to work on approving the expansion of radio spectrum, which in turn speeds up the deployment of 5G networks.

Part of the smart city concept is also keeping citizens safe, and we can use some smart technologies to help with social distancing. We have urban video surveillance with CCTV cameras and facial recognition; geolocation to track vehicles and phones; home deliveries using robots and drones; and the development of numerous driverless or autonomous services. Many of these things have been in progress for a long time, but we now realise the changes are happening faster than previously planned.

Distribution of entertainment
The distribution of entertainment content, with games, films, concerts and sports already seeking immersive, real-time experiences. With most professional football leagues and all sporting events cancelled, eSports platforms have filled the gap. The way we entertain ourselves has changed permanently: we consume huge amounts of streaming video, play multiplayer games and attend virtual concerts. All these platforms put great stress on communication networks, as shown by the fact that both Netflix and YouTube had to lower their streaming resolution because networks in Europe were saturated. We are also seeing a fundamental change in entertainment with the growing rise of augmented and virtual reality systems, which will let us travel, visit museums or take part in events from home with immersive VR/AR systems.

Dislocation of work, education and health
A health situation as critical as this has forced us to adapt to new ways of working, studying and seeing the doctor. We have had to set up offices at home and negotiate the speed of our wireless network, because all of us, and our children, need that bandwidth for virtual meetings and classes. This dislocation, forced by lockdown, will permanently change the way we interact from now on.

Health is a fundamental aspect of our lives. Although work was already under way on telemedicine, it has now taken centre stage: online services, health self-service, virtual diagnosis. Being able to have video calls with doctors, psychologists and other specialists is no longer the future, but our present.

Delocalisation of the supply chain
We are starting to see digitally advanced factories (so-called Smart Factories) adopting process automation to reduce the number of people working on the factory floor. The global dependence we had on China’s supply chain is changing, and many companies are looking for alternatives to set up manufacturing centres in other countries. Companies are also taking advantage of having different suppliers of components and services as an alternative, instead of depending on a single supplier. This has boosted, for example, 3D printing for late product differentiation or customisation, or for manufacturing practically anything on site, as we are seeing these days with 3D printing of all kinds of PPE, ventilators and so on. Another consequence of this crisis has been the acceleration of delivery platforms for practically anything, with pilots of home delivery using autonomous vehicles or drones already starting.

Decarbonisation of the economy
Finally, there is a clear need to look at how these technologies can help decarbonise the economy, developing environmental sustainability strategies to reduce the carbon footprint under what has come to be called the Green New Deal. Telecommunication networks and large data centres consume enormous amounts of electricity, to the point that their carbon footprint exceeds that of the air transport industry. We will see telecom operators and major internet players increasingly turn to renewable energy, energy efficiency and the optimisation of natural resources.

The future is our present
This acceleration of digital transformation represents a fundamental challenge for mission-critical infrastructure such as data centres and edge computing. The main challenge in the coming months and next year will focus on speed, scalability and complexity, both at the core (larger data centres) and at the edge (peripheral infrastructure). It will be essential to deploy new sites in record time, implement and use tools for remote and online management and monitoring of processes, and manage and dispatch technicians remotely. All this will increase the complexity of managing and administering infrastructure.