Documents Allam, Zaheer 3 results

"With the coronavirus (COVID-19) grappling the world and forcing global economic engines to a standstill, numerous sectors are impacted. As a response plan, numerous governments are turning toward economic mechanisms to support both local and national economies. While those are hailed, as the number for unemployment rises, economic stimulus packages are in essence a short-term solution but with the potential to impact on the long-term socioeconomic fabric. In this respect, if not carefully crafted, those emergency economic packages can bailout heavy and polluting industries, hence posing a long-term problem for the actualization of sustainability agendas and commitments. This chapter explores this scenario, supported by trends from past recessions, and further outlines the need for short-term economic emergency response plans while keeping in line with long-term sustainability needs."

"The use of advanced technologies, especially predictive computing in the health sector, is on the rise in this era, and they have successfully transformed the sector with quality insights, better decision-making, and quality policies. Even though notable benefits have been achieved through the uptake of the technologies, adoption is still slow, as most of them are still new, hence facing some hurdles in their applications especially in national and international policy levels. But the recent case of COVID-19 outbreak has given an opportunity to showcase that these technologies, especially artificial intelligence (AI), have the capacity to produce accurate, real-time, and reliable predictions on issues as serious as pandemic outbreak. A case in point is how companies such as BlueDot and Metabiota managed to correctly predict the spread route of the virus days before such events happened and officially announced by the World Health Organization. In this chapter, an increase in the use of AI-based technologies to detect infectious diseases is underlined and how such uses have led to early detections of infectious diseases. Nevertheless, there is evidence that there is need to enhance data sharing activities, especially by rethinking how to improve the efficiency of data protocols. The chapter further proposes the need for enhanced use of technologies and data sharing to ensure that future outbreaks are detected even earlier, thus accelerating early preventive measures."

"Cash-based transactions have been losing in popularity due to the high cost associated to maintaining the cash system and due to its numerous risks. Through the advent of the fourth industrial revolution, it was believed that a rapid transition to a more flexible, secure, and open cashless system would be accelerated. However, numerous hurdles in regard to legislation, protocols, and resistance to change were noted, rendering a slow adoption rate. However, the advent of COVID-19 pandemic and the noted potential contamination of bank notes and coinage revealed a steep support toward cashless payments and supported an immediate need to amend legislations and protocols to maintain the efficiency and stability of banking systems while catering for the shift in user demand. This chapter surveys the shift created by the COVID-19 pandemic from cash-based to cashless systems in cities and unveils how payment giants and information and communication technology corporations have been active in providing the underlaying foundation that would be critical in supporting the transition."