Pundits didn’t foresee Covid-19 coming in 2020 and that it would accelerate the digitalisation trend – a tectonic shift in its own right – resulting from the fragmentation of physical processes and the emphasis on a low touch economy as part of the standard operating procedures to contain the disease.
Not all the digitalisation trends are precipitated (in the sense of having their momentum accelerated) by the unprecedented spread of Covid-19, though – some would have been in the works for years and the breakthroughs only came in 2020. Likewise, digitalisation trends for 2021 would also reflect similar developments. That is, Covid-19 would have been the impetus and catalyst – in contradistinction from “cause” – for the rise of some digitalisation trends while others would have already been pursued beforehand.