The coronavirus pandemic has impacted industries across the globe. There’s no ignoring that simple fact. This disruption (most notably) caused devastating effects in two strands: to our health and to business operations.
As the virus spread, the health and wellbeing of people in society worsened, and businesses felt the strain of projects being placed on hold, and work slowing or completely grinding to a halt. As of the 24th February 2021, the disease has infected more than
112,237,188 people, with 2,487,349 reported deaths.
For Data & Analytics professionals, it soon became evident that they could use their skills to help. Using the mass of data available, professionals and researchers turned to big data analytics tools to track and monitor the virus’s spread, along with a variety of trends. Here’s how:
Genomics and sequencing
Life science is a significant application within Data & Analytics and explores the study of all living things on earth. One particular section of this study looks at the concept of genomic sequencing.
Genomic sequencing is significant as it allows us looks at the entire genetic code of a virus – in this case, COVID-19. Most importantly, the technique means that researchers and analysts can identify dangerous mutations and track movements of specific variants.
We know that the UK has the most advanced system for tracing covid variants too. Last year, Britain launched one of the world’s largest coronavirus sequencing projects, by
investing £20 million in the Covid-19 Genomics UK consortium. In a group that included NHS researchers, public health agencies, academic partners and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, they set out to map the genetic code of as many strains of the coronavirus as possible.
And the buy-in paid off. It took the US approximately 72 days to process and share each genetic sequence, compared with 23 days for UK researchers,
according to figures compiled by the Broad Institute with data from Gisaid.
Tech giants stepping in
Ultimately, your organisation is more agile than you think it is. Regardless of the size of the business, or the industry in which it operates, the sector’s response in applying analysis and data to track the coronavirus was nothing short of miraculous.
Google introduced a series of features such as popular times and live busyness, COVID-19 alerts in transit, and COVID checkpoints in driving navigation in order to keep their one billion (and growing) app users safe. They also introduced the COVID layer in Maps, a tool that shows critical information about COVID-19 cases in a given area, allowing their customers to make informed decisions about where to go and what to do.
Apple also released a
mobility data trends tool from Apple Maps. This data was shared in order to provide insights to local governments and health authorities so that they could support mapping specific covid trends. These first-hand examples indicate the influence and power of using data to better our understanding of the virus.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, professionals, businesses and industries alike worked in siloes. What we have witnessed since has been very much the opposite, as experts quickly came together to begin mapping out data requirements and supporting the world’s focus to improve the public’s health and get businesses back on their feet. Without Data & Analytics, none of this would be possible.
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