Stronger, faster and more robust networks will be one of the positive legacies of the pandemic.
Hopefully, we will soon be able to start living our post-Covid-19 lives. Going forward, some of us want fundamental changes. Others are keen to return to the way things were. Although we will be pleased to put this situation behind us, some things are here to stay. One, obviously, is the lethal group of coronaviruses that will surely continue to take lives after lockdown (we hope at a greatly reduced rate). Another, I believe, is the tendency for many of us to continue working from home (WFH) to a much greater extent than before.
WFH has been one of the headline trends of this crisis. Although clearly not to everyone’s taste, it could turn into a revolution founded on the internet technologies that allow us to meet with colleagues online, access data and tools remotely, and benefit from high connection speeds wherever we are – wired or wireless. That so many can do meaningful work this way also reflects the soft nature of many tasks associated with getting things done in developed economies. These soft deliverables liberate us from location and will be critical to our economic survival of this pandemic.
Many are keen to recover the social dimension to our working lives. While physically working together in the same space and time to achieve shared goals is a powerful part of team building and cohesion, we can also take advantage of the flexibility to ease some of the more stressful aspects, such as traveling and being away from loved ones.
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For real-time and predictive interventions, smart patches are in style.
For many of us in the technology sector, markets for high-tech products have remained resilient in the face of the effects of the pandemic. Despite lockdowns and restrictions, businesses are finding innovative ways to continue operating safely. Indeed, some seem to be thriving.
Gartner predicts the wearables market will grow 18% in 2021, reaching $81.5 billion. Ear-worn devices represent almost 50% of this market, with the current strong sales attributed to the WFH trend – as people upgrade from standard headphones for video conferencing – and the latest smartphones that have no 3.5mm jack.
Gartner notes, however, the increasing contribution of smart patches in the wearables space, rising to third in importance as sales of wristbands decline. This technology has ample potential to realize innovations in fields such as medicine and wellbeing that are so far undiscovered.
Bringing together multiple exciting technologies, such as flexible electronic materials, miniature sensors capable of detecting movement and various biomarkers, and micro-needles to deliver medicines when needed, smart patches are already changing healthcare. Conditions such as diabetes can be managed by detecting glucose levels in sweat on the surface of the skin and automatically injecting the appropriate quantity of insulin through an array of micro-needles. Researchers in the UK have considered similar patches to administer coronavirus vaccines.
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Saab may have been first to bring aerospace technologies overtly into the automotive world when it introduced the aerodynamically styled 92 in 1948. The idea proved popular and effective, setting a trend that has made technologies such as infrared vision, radar and heads-up displays common features in today’s vehicles.
The flow of technology and know-how may soon be seen in reverse, as the aviation industry seeks to clean up its environmental credentials. In my last column, I mentioned Airbus’ recent flying achievements with fully electric planes. The company is also experimenting with hybrid platforms powered by a combination of lithium-ion batteries and a range-extending combustion engine, and recently unveiled several new hydrogen-powered concepts.
We can expect technological progress toward larger planes capable of longer flights; the ultimate goal, obviously, is zero-emission planes operating commercially viable services. Key challenges facing battery-powered electric aircraft include compensating for the extra weight of large Li-ion batteries. There are also demands for charging infrastructure and safe solutions to minimize recharging times so operators can turn services around quickly. The automotive industry has experience dealing with these issues and could provide solutions.
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Read more: Zero-Emission Aviation Promises Better Services and Cleaner Skies
2020 has been an unusual and challenging year, although many of us can be thankful for the resilience of high-tech industries. Indeed, activity has surged in some sectors, and generally the outlook is relatively buoyant.
In my other role as president of the EIPC (European Institute for the PCB Community), I moderated the Institute’s Technical Snapshot webinar last November, at which Dr. Shiuh-Kao Chiang of Prismark described how various sectors have fared. While 5G infrastructure rollouts slowed and handset shipments fell about 10%, the PC market has been buoyed by the increase in work-from-home, and certain consumer markets such as wearables and smart appliances have also done well. Overall, he noted a surprising robustness across the electronics, semiconductor and substrate markets.
The automotive sector has been among the hardest hit, along with conventional commercial aerospace. Rebuilding after the damage to sales caused by the pandemic is just one of the challenges facing vehicle manufacturers right now. They are also contending with the push toward higher levels of driving automation, mandatory smart systems such as autonomous emergency braking, and real-time V2X capabilities, which are expensive to develop. At the same time, governments are signaling their intentions to accelerate electrification, which will require all manufacturers to move their entire product ranges to hybrid-electric or pure battery-EV platforms. The UK government has brought its intended start date forward to 2030. There is no doubt about the urgency, although I am sure at least hybrid-EVs will prove a steppingstone to the kinds of vehicles we use in the future.
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Read more: Today’s Best Technologies are the Roadmap to an Even Better Future
