Let's imagine customer experience in a post-Covid world. We should anticipate that the changes in consumer preferences and business models will outlast the immediate crisis. Once consumers acclimate to new digital or remote models, we expect some of them to change people's expectations permanently -- accelerating shifts already under way before the crisis.

 

Digital nomadism, philanthropy, and sustainable development goals (SDG) will be popular keywords in 2021, and we will also see rapid changes in top technological and business innovation -- all based on people's experience during the pandemic. Here are a few technology and business trends we will see in 2021.

 

- Trend 1: Drug development revolution with advanced Covid-19 testing and vaccine development

 

Covid caused a major shakeup in the drug industry, making it quicker and easier to trial drugs. Researchers have put many traditional clinical trials on hold, or they have shifted to a virtual structure by performing consultations online and collecting data remotely. Remote clinical trials and other changes may permanently alter pharmaceutical development.

 

- Trend 2: Continued expansion of remote working and videoconferencing

 

This area has seen rapid growth during the pandemic, and it will likely continue growing in 2021.

 

Zoom, which grew from a startup in 2011 to going public in 2019, became a household name during the pandemic. Other existing large corporate tools such as Cisco's Webex, Microsoft's Teams, Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting, and Verizon's BlueJeans are also providing state-of-the-art videoconferencing systems, facilitating remote work across the globe.

 

Many new ventures are emerging in the remote working sector. Startups Bluescape, Eloops, Figma, Slab, and Tandem have all provided visual collaboration platforms enabling teams to create and share content, interact, track projects, train employees, run virtual team-building activities, and more.

 

These tools also help distributed teams keep track of shared learning and documentation. Users can create a virtual office that replicates working together in person by letting colleagues communicate and collaborate with one another easily.

 

- Trend 3: Contactless delivery and shipping remain as the new normal

 

The U.S. has seen a 20 percent increase in preference for contactless operations, with various industries implementing alternative processes.

 

No-contact delivery is the new normal. DoorDash, Postmates, and Instacart all offer drop-off delivery options, reportedly borne from customer desires to minimize physical contact. Grubhub and Uber Eats also grew their contactless delivery options and will continue to do so in 2021.

 

China-based delivery apps like Meituan, which was the first company in China to implement contactless delivery in Wuhan, began using autonomous vehicles to help fulfill grocery orders to customers. While Meituan tested this technology last year, the company recently launched this service publicly.

 

China is not the only country looking to push robotic deliveries into its next phase. U.S.-based startups Manna, Starship Technologies, and Nuro are tackling this problem using robotics and artificial intelligence-based applications.

 

- Trend 4: Telehealth and telemedicine flourish

 

Institutions, especially in health care, are working to lower the exposure of Covid-19 to patients and workers. Many private and public practices have started implementing more telehealth offerings such as doctor-patient video chats, A.I. avatar-based diagnostics, and no-contact-based medication delivery.

 

Telehealth visits have surged by 50 percent compared with pre-pandemic levels. IHS Technology predicted that 70 million Americans would use telehealth by 2020. Since then, Forrester Research predicted the number of U.S. virtual care visits will reach almost a billion early in 2021.

 

Teladoc Health, Amwell, Livongo Health, One Medical, and Humana are some of the public companies offering telehealth services to meet the current needs.

 

Startups are not far behind. Startups like MDLive, MeMD, iCliniq, K Health, 98point6, Sense.ly, and Eden Health have also contributed toward meeting the growing needs in 2020, and will continue offering creative solutions in 2021. Beyond telehealth, in 2021 we can expect to see health care advancements in biotech and A.I., as well as machine learning opportunities (example: Suki AI) to support diagnosis, admin work, and robotic health care.

 

- Trend 5: Online education and e-learning as part of the educational system

 

Covid-19 fast-tracked the e-learning and online education industry. During this pandemic, 190 countries have enforced nationwide school closures at some point, affecting almost 1.6 billion people globally.

 

There is a major opportunity with schools, colleges, and even coaching centers conducting classes via videoconferencing. Many institutions have actually been recommended to pursue a portion of their curriculum online even after everything returns to normal.

 

17zuoye, Yuanfudao, iTutorGroup, and Hujiang in China, Udacity, Coursera, Age of Learning, and Outschool in the U.S., and Byju's in India are some of the top online learning platforms that have served the global community during the pandemic and will continue to do so in 2021 and beyond.

 

- Looking ahead:

 

Technology development in 2021 will be somewhat of a continuation of 2020, but the influence of Covid-19 will evolve during the year. Many of our new behaviors will become part of the new normal in 2021, helping drive major technological and business innovations.