The global Covid-19 pandemic has firmly placed digital transformation back on agendas, as information and communication technologies (ICTs) become powerful weapons in the fight against the devastating contagion.

As people globally are forced into isolation to curb the spread of the disease, there have been unprecedented developments in the sector that create an added impetus for digital transformation in every aspect.

“In this unprecedented situation, people are quickly adapting to innovative ways of connecting and doing business empowered by connectivity, and digital transformation is no longer just a question but an action for many industries,” a new report from the GSMA says.

The mobile sector is playing a crucial role in supporting governments’ responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes ensuring seamless emergency communications, leveraging operator big data to increase telemedicine capabilities and the efficiencies of health services and

improving the coverage of fourth-generation (4G) and fifth-generation (5G) networks.

The ‘Mobile Industry Response to Covid-19 in China’ report cites the construction of two temporary hospitals in China to treat Covid-19 patients, where mobile operators, including China Telecom and China Mobile, worked with Huawei 4G/5G communication networks to deliver mobile coverage in the hospitals.

“The deployment of 4G/5G networks also assisted with remote consultation and telemedicine. Mobile operators were able to construct up to eight 4G/5G network sites in less than 30 hours following the construction of the hospitals,” the report highlights.

The high-quality 4G/5G networks have ensured smooth and uninterrupted communication services and provided strong support for the mission-critical response efforts in China during the Covid-19 pandemic.

From late January to March 25, the Chinese communication industry mobilised 357 000 communication support personnel and 174 000 communication support vehicles and deployed more than 63 000 new 4G and 5G base stations.

This collection of use cases from the Covid-19 response in China, which is jointly produced by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology and the GSMA, hopes to share experiences and efforts from China and encourage global dialogues and collaboration to facilitate more effective use of mobile technologies in the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As combinations of ICTs and health, education and other services gradually become a new norm, there is an opportunity for Africa to return to its growth trajectory by adopting new business models and methodologies that have emerged from this outbreak,” says Huawei Southern Africa Region media affairs director Edison Xie.

In African countries like Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa, ICTs have been at the forefront of ensuring that social and physical distancing measures are observed.

South Africa’s Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, emphasised the importance of technological innovation in tackling the virus while receiving Huawei Cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) diagnostic systems and four thermal scanning systems.

This Al-empowered diagnosis tool assists medical workers in ascertaining if someone has Covid-19, with an accuracy of over 98%.

CT scan review times have also been reduced by over 80%.

Ghana also found ICTs to be a powerful weapon in the fight against Covid-19, following the launch of an app designed to help trace people who have come into contact with Covid-19-positive individuals and link them to health professionals for urgent action, Xie says.