How IoT can be used to fight against COVID-19?

The outbreak of coronavirus in 2020 has solidified the notion of a VUCA world (Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity). The businesses still refusing to evolve, hanging on to the age-old processes that have no doubt given their success in the past, have been left behind. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecasted the real GDP growth for the world to be -4.4%, with India being hit particularly hard with a GDP contraction of 10.3%. More than two-thirds of businesses have been impacted by reduced cash flows over the past nine months. Every aspect of a business’s operation has been affected directly or indirectly due by the COVID-19 virus.

The global market for IoT was expected to grow with a CAGR of 10.53% over the next 5 years, and the outbreak of a global pandemic has upped the ante for innovation in a multitude of applications and investments in local manufacturing capability build-up has only accelerated this shift.

It has become imperative for organizations to provide a safe working environment for their employees while at the same time being economically viable. One such instance is the need for safety measures to be taken for employees’ well-being. With the movement of people curtailed due to safety risks and government lockdowns, the companies which have been able to adopt the digital medium quickest have benefitted from the quicker restoration of operations.

It is said, the only constant thing is change. In the last decade, various technologies are being increasingly utilized, not only in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities but also in offices and even in regular daily life. Internet of Things (#IoT), a network of devices that have sensors and communicate with each other powered with Artificial Intelligence (#AI), analyses the data to fulfill the required functionalities with increasing efficiency of processes in myriad fields. With offices and businesses dusting themselves off from the forced sabbatical and reopening, safety has become paramount. IoT-based applications can help organizations ride over the unfamiliar tide.

BLE/UWB-based smart cards

It detects social distance violations and alerts employees to maintain safe distance along with a dashboard to the employer on effectiveness and breaches of policy violations. The same infra can also be extended to implement use cases such as smart attendance tracking and access control.

BLE/UWB-based smart cards

Smart Cameras 

Cameras with integrated sensors for heat monitoring at entrances can detect visitors and employees with elevated temperatures. This ensures that possible virus cases can be quickly identified and are provided immediate attention to prevent the spread.

Smart Trackers

One of the key challenges for COVID-19 vaccination is going to be the distribution of vaccines to every nook and corner of the habitable world. To maintain the efficacy of the vaccine it is imperative that the vaccines are stored and transported at specified sub-zero temperature ranges and any variation will render the vaccine ineffective. The smart trackers are packed with sensors and connectivity to feed the real-time parameters of the vaccine containers to the centralized dashboard for real-time decision-making on administrations.

Multiple sensors in the manufacturing value chain

Remote operations management and production performance monitoring using machine learning are ways to implement automation and safely restore operations. IoT devices are being integrated into warehouses, GPS tracking, and remote fleet management to optimize logistics and reduce the manpower needed in labour-intensive fields.

Companies like Google, Cisco, IBM, Siemens, and Microsoft have pioneered IoT development on a global scale. Over the past few years, India has seen a boom in IoT software development companies but there is a need for this cutting-edge software to be complemented with high-performance and reliable hardware. With Govt. of India’s Make in India and PLI initiatives, Napino Digital Solutions being one of India’s leading electronics manufacturing companies is playing a pivotal role in the manufacturing of high-quality electronics and IoT products. With more than two decades of experience in designing, manufacturing, and business excellence processes Napino is a reliable partner to several tier-1 global companies.

Or you can directly reach out to us to know more about how Napino can support you on IoT and electronics design, manufacturing and assembly. Mails us at info@napino.com

About Author

Ashish Chinthal heads Strategy & Business Development at Napino Digital Solutions and has 16+ years of experience in Telecom, IT and Electronics Industries across Strategy, Business Development, Alliances, Marketing, Program Management and Product Management. Ashish had held leadership positions at Airtel, Mobilium, Ernst & Young and Vodafone.