Technology could be used to tackle COVID-19, help economic recovery: S. African expert

JOHANNESBURG - Technology could be a game changer in the fight against COVID-19 and economic recovery in South Africa and other BRICS countries, said a South African expert on Wednesday.

The BRICS countries can apply a range of appropriate technologies to combat COVID-19, said Ashraf Patel, digital economy associate at the Institute for Global Dialogue.

"The new information communication technologies, big data and knowledge transfer can assist especially new industrial development and the fourth industrial revolution partnership of BRICS," said Patel.

Patel pointed out that the World Economic Forum has observed that the digital economy would be useful in the economic recovery.

"In the pre-pandemic era, new artificial intelligence based technologies were being gradually introduced to automate some of the tasks performed by human employees. The COVID-19 crisis and its accompanying measures of social distancing, has suddenly accelerated the process of innovation and technological change," he said.