We’ve seen the immense shutdown of travel – significantly limiting the movement of people and goods everywhere with widespread economic ramifications. Government, healthcare providers, suppliers, and other industries are co-ordinating in ways we have never experienced before to ensure continuity of service and that the public remain safe and informed.

To help organisations as they navigate through this challenging period, 51·çÁ÷recently hosted a series of virtual forums called . This digital event featured industry-specific episodes to provide perspectives on how businesses might adjust, adapt, and thrive in this crisis.

I participated as part of the public services session alongside Lee Miezis, CEO at Bushfire Relief Victoria and Simon Bush, GM Policy and Advocacy at Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) and managing director, Bush Consulting. Together we discussed the impact of COVID-19 on workforces, legislation, risk and compliance, and the critical role of technology in helping businesses and society emerge from this stronger than before.

Let’s take a look at some of the key points that were discussed:

The Vital Importance of Good Data
Governments have crisis plans but putting them into effect at scale is challenging at the best of times. How this is done can have a massive impact upon our lives, families, society and our economy.

The main challenge lies in when to act and how to ensure successful execution especially in the middle of the crisis itself. Lee will provide insights from his experiences during the recent bushfire crisis, the vital importance of data to enable smart decision-making, and how they have built a culture of resilience to adapt in times of need.

Rebuilding Trust Through Technology
We’ve spoken previously on the importance of building public trust by understanding citizen’s expectations and experiences. The wide-reaching capacities and applications of technology make this easier than ever before. Intelligent technology was a vital cornerstone in creating the experience economy, and now – more than ever – people’s experiences will inform how well we emerge from this current crisis.
Citizens need to feel they can trust governments – especially during times of crisis.

This means being transparent in terms of response and funding, ensuring people understand the legislative changes that are developing as rapidly as COVID-19 news unfolds. Communication through digital platforms not only facilitates better accessibility for public service providers and citizens, but can be used to help co-ordinate response efforts across industry sectors.

To learn more about how public services and governments are mitigating risks and responding to this global pandemic, to the second edition of the – going live on August 6^th 2020.

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that supply chains are broken, exemplified through a lack of visibility, lack of collaboration, and lack of coordination.

Since most supply chains are based on transaction and reactive models, multi-faceted supply networks cannot adapt quickly enough to spikes or drops in demand. COVID-19 has inadvertently demonstrated the weaknesses of this system and highlighted the need for change.

Digital technology platforms can create the transparency and connectivity necessary to mitigate risks and navigate through crises. Visibility across supply networks is vital in response to emergencies. – ensuring that they were able to quickly develop a temporary hospital and use those beds to treat patients with COVID-19.

This is a time to unite, to focus on everyone’s safety and assist those we can. In response to the huge shifts we are seeing globally across industries, 51·çÁ÷recently hosted a series of virtual forums called . There were seven industry-specific episodes focused on key challenges, solutions, and learnings from this current crisis.

Also, to help guide businesses through this challenging period, through the crisis period, to support an enhanced supply chain and improved experience management. These two critical branches of business dictate an organisation’s success – because a company’s ability to provide the right product and service to customers and staff is paramount.

Supply Chain Management and Disruption
SAP’s primary focus has always been helping businesses anticipate and adapt to change through technology. Looking at supply chains, we’ve already seen the importance of interconnectivity, the ability to create transparency across supply networks that is embedded across different organisations, departments, and borders. The more connected we can make disparate systems and processes, the greater visibility we can create across supply chains to better manage sudden spikes in demand.

The ability to intelligently manage supply chains with data driven insights helps business plan, adapt, and grow. It’s about understanding planning as a service, which is possible through , which is freely available for business looking to scenario planning and evaluation of supply chain impacts, options, and financial implications.

The also broadens the visibility of organisational supply chains to gain an understanding of suppliers’ situations, analyse risks, and better manage the experiences of staff and suppliers throughout the business ecosystem.

Using this solution, businesses can gather feedback suppliers to understand potential supplier restraints and delivery timelines risks, areas for optimisation, and ways to better collaborate with suppliers to ensure business continuity even during crises. This is critical as suppliers, staff, and customers all face extraordinary challenges and organisations must be seen as responsive and communicative.

Communication and Support for People
Building team cohesion during crises, or reskilling them for organisational changes, is vital. Employees need to feel heard and supported, which is why their engagement can be better managed and understood through platforms like Qualtrics.

using Qualtrics to understand how staff are feeling, the associated root causes, and what they can do to help. With the ability to provide this quick and convenient service across any device helps keep volunteers engaged and provides significant insights for improvement.

St John Ambulance also noted that the speed and ease at which Qualtrics was able to go live, the in-built reporting tools, and automatic alerts, have all made the volunteer experience easier to manage and understand.

The data insights produced during this time of crisis will help business safeguard themselves from future impacts, building resilience and discovering best practice. It is a challenging time, but it also presents an opportunity to refine practices and ensure that everyone is kept informed and safe.

51·çÁ÷is here to help and provide assistance for any business struggling to digitally transform and adapt to these rapid changing circumstances.  to the second edition of the – going live on August 6^th 2020.

This article originally published on .

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A holistic industry understanding reflects the changing norms of business as we face an international crisis that is reshaping organisations everywhere. COVID-19 is creating massive changes across industries and nation borders, which has made reliable information and guidance more important than ever.

To help businesses navigate this challenging time, 51·çÁ÷recently hosted a series of virtual forums called . The digital event featured industry-specific episodes to help organisations adjust, adapt, and thrive in this crisis.

I spoke, exploring the impact on workforces, risk and compliance in this era, and the role technology continues to play in adapting to global changes. This is a critical time to reach out and communicate – listening to staff, customers, and suppliers to create transparency. The more forthcoming businesses can be with one another, the easier it will be to weather this turmoil and safeguard against future shock events.

Internally, the workforce challenges businesses have always faced remain important, but staff retention and retraining can be key focuses during this period. Organisations need to make the best use of its human resources, not only ensuring staff safety, but re-skilling and redeploying employees to suit the changing environment.

Adaptation is handled through people; while technology can help companies change with the times, its people facilitate that transition and ensure business success. Technology’s role is to help staff work at their safest and most productive, therefore businesses need to continue supporting employees whether they’ve moved to working remotely or been adversely impacted by COVID-19.

Businesses need to exercise flexibility and agility during this time since news develops quickly and impacts are felt globally. Considering the scale and rate of change, organisations are thinking outside its own industry and core competencies to diversify capacities and futureproof the business.

We’re seeing increased collaboration and new alliances across industries and it’s encouraging to see competitive rivalries breaking down for the common goals of viability and helping one another. This is the time to offer assistance and accommodate new arrangements for projects, contracts, suppliers, partners, and staff.

Beyond profitability, all businesses face universal challenges as industries and workforce dynamics shift under these circumstances. Remote work is becoming the norm for back-end office staff and business need to support staff as they transition to more digitally based work processes. In construction specifically, this is not always possible. You will be reliant on actual people, skills, and machinery to come together to carry out a building task.

The way we work and communicate is changing, however the safety and wellbeing of people remains of paramount importance and we’re all facing similar risks in terms of compliance, legislation, and the impact of COVID-19.

Outside of the risks to internal and external human resources – our current situation has exposed many businesses to financial and supply chain risks. We’ve seen many organisations facing cashflow challenges during this lean period and, further down the line, supply chain issues due to every-changing legislations.

Borders nationally and globally have become less porous, limiting access to both materials and people. With restricted movement of supplies and workers, there have been consequent deficiencies and delays in projects throughout the industry. In Australia, we have been lucky that these physical effects have been less than that of the global environment.

We’ve seen various project stoppages throughout the industry while many other jobs are proceeding under limited capacities and more stringent regulations.

As overall supply chains adapt to the extraordinary circumstances we all face, suppliers that invested in digitalisation early are better equipped to handle these changes. The shifts in communication channels and platforms must be used for checking in with suppliers and staff alike. The critical point of all this technology is to humanise the connections we build across organisations and industries.

Before COVID-19 shook the world, I’ve maintained a fascination with the digital connection of systems, applications, processes, and people. Today, these critical technologies are helping businesses streamline processes and adapt to the changing circumstances. Within the EC&O industry, the multi-faceted applications for intelligent technologies is breaking down silos between business departments and supply chains.

By working from a single source of data and communication, technology does most of the heavy lifting while providing staff with more opportunity to work remotely, efficiently, and safely. Furthermore, digital assets are being used to minimise on-site interactions and help ensure the safety of on-site employees.

To learn more about how industry experts are mitigating risks and complying with modern slavery legislation, watch the on-demand replay of Virtual Industry Forum.

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