The global economic situation in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic is becoming one of the deepest social crises the world has ever experienced. In the International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, researchers discuss how technology and innovation might be used to make the society and the economy resilient to the trauma.
Fernando Santiago of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNIDO) in Vienna, Austria, and colleagues suggest that the lessons of history must be learned and now is the time to advocate coordination, cooperation, and investment in science, technology, productive and innovative capabilities. These are all the essential strategic ingredients for facing the problem and building resilience, they suggest. This is especially the case for developing nations, the team adds. Comprehensive and coordinated policies are critical to our response in those countries as with the wider world.
The team writes that “The COVID-19 pandemic is punishing countries that have failed to invest adequately in healthcare systems, particularly issues related to governance, infrastructure, human resources and research.” They add that “As economies begin to reopen, governments should ensure that recovery plans focus more on vital public health structures and how these are supported. This means coming up with innovative solutions and redesigning global supply chains to improve their resilience and transform health challenges into longer-term industrial development opportunities, particularly in developing countries.”
At the time of writing, the pandemic is still very much with us and while the need to “reopen” economies is an increasingly pressing issue there remains the threat of a lethal, uncontrolled virus continuing to wreak havoc on lives and healthcare systems. Of course, science and innovation will underpin the very medical response we need to make directly to the virus if we are to overcome it and reopen beyond a new-normal.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and its rippling socio-economic effects have also accentuated the need for actively revitalising the role of industrial development and productive and innovative capability development,” the team writes. Innovation and development exist as a symbiotic relationship we would do well to remember that as we work our way through the pandemic.
Santiago, F., De Fuentes, C., Peerally, J.A. and Larsen, J. (2020) ‘Investing in innovative and productive capabilities for resilient economies in a post-COVID-19 world’, Int. J. Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp.153–167.