The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the world to a halt and pharma industry has a critical role to play in the fight against this contagious disease. Armed with their scientific expertise, management capabilities and supporting infrastructure, pharma companies have accelerated efforts to develop treatments and a vaccine against the virus.

While traditional financial institutions are used to disruptions, the COVID-19 pandemic poses an unprecedented challenge to these institutions and hits one of their stronghold – the vast physical presence. Lockdowns and social distancing requirements mean that few customers, if any, can be served in a physical branch, putting additional strain on other channels.

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced billions of people inside their homes, roads became quieter and so did the oceans. The coronavirus outbreak spread through the planet at an unprecedented scale and brought the whole world to a halt, plummeting demand in the majority of the sectors including the seafood industry. Fisheries were among the first businesses to face the economic hit of the coronavirus outbreak due to its heavy exposure to China for both consumptions as well as production.

As much as the COVID-19 pandemic is dangerous on the land, it’s presence on ships has been even more traumatic, followed by dilemmas in which ships were banished to the oceans on their own for weeks when countries refused to take them in.

The hospitality industry connects communities and puts a great deal of emphasis on serving millions of people every single day. But the same emphasis on people-to-people connection became problematic during the times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over 1.57 billion students, representing more than 90 percent of enrolled learners, are out of school after 191 countries imposed nationwide school closures in an attempt to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The unprecedented crisis has left the world looking for answers on how to ensure that no one is left behind during these challenging times.

Billions of people are stuck inside their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the world is becoming increasingly dependent on the internet to ensure business continuity, supply of essential goods, and dissemination of essential information. The race towards a connected world was already in full swing and the outbreak has further highlighted the potential of the internet in tackling problems of the 21st century.