Going Digital: Implications of the COVID-19 crisis on digital transformation #2 (Comment, Q&A)

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out at the start of 2020, citizens, businesses and governments were forced to move online. Many employees started working from home; firms adopted digital business models; digital tools were introduced to help “track and trace” the development of the pandemic and researchers employed artificial intelligence to learn more about the virus and accelerate the search for vaccines and treatments. Due to this rapid shift, Internet traffic in some countries increased by up to 60% following the outbreak. The pandemic has opened a new phase of the digital transformation. The strong digitalisation drive has been enabled by a range of digitalisation policies, some of which are still evolving. These policies will require even greater attention as the digital transformation deepens and economies become more reliant on these technologies. This presentation will provide evidence on the rapid digital transformation of OECD economies since COVID-19 and explore policy responses.

Speaker
Dirk PILAT (Deputy Director, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD)

Commentator
MATSUMOTO Rie (Principal Deputy Director, IT Innovation Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau, METI)

Moderator
SABURI Masataka (Director, PR Strategy, RIETI / Special Advisor to the Minister, METI)

Material
Dirk PILAT: https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/events/bbl/21012601_pilat.pdf
MATSUMOTO Rie: https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/events/bbl/21012601_matsumoto.pdf