Impact of COVID-19 on public services

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic seems to have brought governments and large corporations down on their knees. As the global effort to deal with the virus and find a cure intensifies, businesses are finding themselves in uncharted territories – an unprecedented scenario that most contingency plans did not factor in. And now, while many organizations are having to completely shut down their operations, others must find ways of turning the wheels with a skeleton workforce. While the impact on global health seems incalculable, the financial burden on companies and the global economy is just as unimaginable with worldwide GDP projected to contract 3% during 2020.

However, amongst the lot, public services companies seem to be one of the hardest hit. They not only partake grossly in offering essential services, their operations at such dire times become even more imperative from all angles – and so, for them, the show must go on. Managing buildings and facilities, running healthcare and transportation systems, ensuring sanitation and waste management in communities – all need to be done, albeit without aggravating the risk of transmission of the virus.

So, businesses must gather themselves and find innovative ways of turning at least portions of this maze upside down and create room for every possible opportunity in the face of this daunting challenge. There is ample evidence which points towards the near inevitability of a new world, where global supply chains, resource planning, productivity measures and regular business operations evolve in their approach to fit into larger frameworks of safety, security, and business continuity planning. The world is already witnessing a paradigm shift towards more contact-less operations, a new ‘No-Touch’ regime. And technology is going to play a pivotal part in this shift, especially for public services organizations. Whether it be the usage of drones and IoT based sensors for building management, or having intelligent robots perform basic health checks and dispense medication, or use intelligent garbage bins with in-built compactors – the applications of technology in shaping the future of public services are numerous and varied. And several organizations worldwide are already implementing some of these solutions in their bid to reimagine the new ‘no-touch’.

The global change that the novel coronavirus is poised to bring about, is more of a trendline rather than just a headline. The changes being conceived today, will become the norm for tomorrow, and will perhaps also re-engineer how public services contracts are drawn out in the long term. Client expectations, standard procedures and regular operations might all stand at elevated levels in terms of quality and effectiveness measures. This paper outlines the key challenges and changes that public services companies are witnessing and attempts to bring out the possible areas that merit focus and perhaps investment to help them weather this storm and be well prepared for the next one.

1. Setting the Context

First and foremost, the coronavirus outbreak is a human tragedy, affecting millions of people worldwide – a pandemic with an increasingly growing impact on the global economy. The outbreak has turned the whole world and its politico-economic system upside down. As it continues to expand rapidly, more than 175 countries and territories have got entangled in the spiralling cases of COVID-19. Governments worldwide have spun into action and have launched unprecedented public-health and economic responses, as this dynamic situation evolves by the day.

Second only to the immense health impact is the humungous economic fallout that this pandemic entails – the global economy is perhaps staring at the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. In its most recent analysis, the IMF expects the global economy to contract by 3% in 2020. This stands starkly in contrast to its forecast in January of a 3.3% expansion in global GDP for the year. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has said that global trade will contract by between 13% and 32% in 2020. The virus is having a significant impact on businesses and economies, disrupting global supply chains and international trade as more than 100 countries have closed national borders during the past month.

1.1. Moving Towards the New ‘No-Touch’

As the pandemic impacts more people every day, coronavirus contingency planning is of the utmost importance. Governments are realizing that responses and solutions must be collaborative and heavily grounded in technology and innovation. The most evident principle emerging from this pandemic is the need to move towards a new normal – one that allows public services to be delivered with minimum contact – the new ‘No-Touch’ world. And avenues such as remote working, customer self-service, social media engagement, remote health monitoring, etc. might become an integral part of that no-touch state.

Experts also believe that post the COVID-19 crisis, ‘regionalism’ might be the new ‘globalism’ in the short to medium term, at least in terms of sourcing strategies and supply chain. Companies will focus more on sourcing from local suppliers and developing alternative local supply chains to mitigate risks of disruption arising from a more global sourcing strategy.
As research from McKinsey points out, companies need to focus on five stages towards the next normal that will emerge after the battle against coronavirus has been won.

The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) feels that the services sector in Europe and North America are the hardest hit amid the lockdowns, especially industries that involve physical interactions such as retail trade, leisure and hospitality, recreation and transportation.
While most industry sectors are coming to a grinding halt, public service organizations find themselves at the forefront of this global fight, trying to keep essential and critical services up and functional. Healthcare workers, police personnel, municipal sanitization staff are the true warriors in this war against the pathogen. Such public services are essential, both for treating patients who have contracted the virus or are otherwise quarantined, as well as for delivering essential services to the rest of the world staying at home.
Sectors such as Facilities Management, Healthcare, Public Transportation, Municipal & Citizen Services have taken the brunt of this outbreak. Public sector organizations must ensure their responses are rooted in these principles:

2. Spotlight on Facilities Management Services

As numerous facilities have temporarily shut down and waiting for this phase-out, the larger Facilities Management (FM) and Building Service Contracting (BSC) sector is at the receiving end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The immediate challenge that most businesses face is that of safety and protection – of their frontline employees, the management, and the entire workforce. Globally, companies across industries are taking that as their top priority. Reassigning staff whose workplaces have closed to other sites which urgently require additional personnel, ensuring the health and safety of existing frontline staff, and assuring the ones who have temporarily lost their jobs of a comeback, are some of the things FM companies are focusing on.

2.1. Other Key Challenges for Facility Managers

•  Acute Financial Stress – Most FM companies are reeling under tremendous financial pressures with majority of facilities shut down. However, companies need to wait this phase out and even support their employees in the fight. And facility managers need to strike the difficult balance between maintaining the payroll and allocating resources to locations like hospitals, where they are needed the most.

• Facility managers should also consider cross-skilling staff to facilitate their redeployment across sectors basis requirements. In fact, companies can also train their workers across skillsets for a more seamless switch between roles if the situation so demands. For instance, facility managers can have their patrolling officers cross trained in the inspection of assets such as chillers and heating systems during their patrols and double up as maintenance inspection workers.

•  Supply Chain Disruption – Another significant challenge in this situation is that FM providers may face difficulties in procuring materials and supplies. And this has a direct bearing on the ability to discharge the essential duties for facility managers.

2.2. Emerging Opportunities – the Possible Silver Lining

• More than just Service Providers – The current COVID-19 pandemic presents a one-of-a-kind situation in front of FM businesses and a unique opportunity to step up and be more than mere service providers to clients and customers – to be a true partner to businesses, offering solutions that are aimed at the overall betterment of client’s business. ISS is proactively advising its clients on the intensity of cleaning required in their facilities based on severity levels, offering additional step-up cleaning (high-frequency cleaning to disinfect high-touch or high footfall areas), and advising clients on the various steps to be taken to mitigate risks. Such initiatives can help cement client relationships even further and give the company a possible vantage point for future business opportunities.

• Creating Task Forces to consolidate Efforts – This becomes increasingly significant for global companies with operations in multiple geographies and locations. With the situation changing by the day and so much instructions and advice flowing around, it is imperative for large organizations to have a central command that coordinates all efforts.

• Strengthening the Social Image (stronger human face) – This pandemic presents large organizations with a unique opportunity to position themselves as true people’s organizations with a human face. Sodexo has set up a €30 million relief fund, funded by the company and senior executives to help the fight against coronavirus. It is also working proactively with other sectors such as retailers, e-commerce, and manufacturing firms to find jobs for employees who could not be placed with other clients due to COVID-19.

The world that will emerge from this crisis, might present a host of opportunities for FM companies. And organizations will be prudent to identify such potential chances and invest and plan to develop such capabilities. The crisis will likely change the way FM companies deliver their basic services at client facilities.

• Deep cleaning and step-up cleaning might become standard in most cases, at least in the short to medium term, and might also become part of standard FM contracts.

• Greater emphasis on building health (including building ventilation, air filtration, and cleaning) as well as preparedness for an outbreak will likely be more prevalent than now.

• The industry will witness a more widespread use of technology for day-to-day services, such that in case of a possible outbreak the human intervention could be minimized without compromising on the service delivery:
  • Installing thermal screeners and other equipment in buildings which have relatively high occupancy.
  • Using drones and unmanned aerial vehicles to inspect gutters, rooftops and other remote corners of buildings that might be dangerous for technicians to inspect.
  • Use of IoT based sensors to monitor and maintain physical assets including chillers, HVAC systems, lights, and other mission critical systems thereby reducing reliance on humans.
  • More expansive use of smartphone apps that link various technologies such as AI, AR/VR, IoT etc. to a central command system that can consolidate data and render effective decision making.

3. The Future of Healthcare Services

Healthcare leaders across the world are in pure survival mode right now. It is hard to think beyond the next few weeks as they scramble to adapt to the new world of COVID-19 and brace for the impact on hospitals and other healthcare providers. At the same time though, it is becoming clear that the effects of the pandemic are going to be felt long after this storm has passed.
The one thing that seems certain as of now, is a major transformation in the way the health system functions and technology is sure to be at the very helm of such a transformation. Here are some of the key changes that healthcare systems worldwide might expect.

3.1. Technology to the Rescue

It is widely accepted that digital transformation in health care has been lagging other industries. Realizing the need of the hour, several governments and hospital systems around the world are now turning to advanced technologies such as AI and IoT to shore up defences against the coronavirus.

• Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s Hospital are using robots developed by Boston Dynamics and MIT to perform several tasks, such as obtaining vital signs or delivering medication, without human contact thereby reducing the risks of transmission.

3.2. What this means for Healthcare Organizations?

In the wake of this severe pandemic, healthcare companies have been sprucing up their backend operations to fortify technology-led care enablement while the world witnesses a paradigm shift in the way healthcare is delivered. It is important for organizations to sift through the maze of challenges and find the opportunities that make them better prepared for tomorrow:

• Virtual visits are set to increase especially for non-emergency consultations globally. And health systems across the world do not have enough clinicians trained on virtual consultations. As such, the need to have more trained personnel on hospital payrolls will be of utmost importance.

• A related area that might hold a ray of opportunity is Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and home monitoring. And amid this outbreak, companies are looking for innovative ways to monitor patients remotely. As part of a pilot, SuperCom is supplying a new Coronavirus (COVID-19) citizen quarantine and containment tracking technology. This essentially works through a secure smartphone and helps location-based tracking of people and ensures stay-at-home compliance, creating a completely new set of opportunities for such companies.

The entire fight against COVID-19 is taking the world towards the age of ‘contact-less’ services – the new ‘no-touch’ regime. And especially for the healthcare sector, this would mean diminished probabilities of transmitting contagious diseases as well as lighter workload on fellow humans.

4. Implications for Urban Transportation Systems

The severe effects of COVID-19 are being felt across the transportation sector. While the coronavirus outbreak has brought passenger transport to an almost screeching halt globally, the focus seems to have now shifted on maintaining a functional transportation system, albeit with a skeleton workforce, so that freight and essential workers continue to move with as little disruption as possible.

4.1. Key Impacts for the Sector in the Medium to Long Term

Amid the growing cobweb of the coronavirus, mobility service providers across segments (bus, rail, airlines etc.) are faced with some dire situations that will likely have a significant impact on their operations in the medium to long term:

• Drop-in Demand for Public Transit – The fear of transmission of the coronavirus has sparked a global plummeting of demand for public transit, as more people are staying at home amid worldwide lockdowns.

• Lower Traffic might Impact Ridership further – Some experts also believe that as the world moves away from regular offices towards a work from home culture, the number of commuters on the roads may drastically drop even further. And this might lead to more commuters driving on their own on relatively empty roads instead of taking public transport. This might just add to the drop in ridership in the short to medium term.

•  Micro-Mobility Companies facing the Burden – As more and more urban centres are getting empty, micro-mobility companies are increasingly feeling the severe pain. As the world gears for streets with negligible commuters and tourists, scooters and ebikes and other micro-vehicles seem to be losing their market for now.

• Commuting and Travel Plans might not return to normal – Even when the lockdowns are lifted and the world emerges from this tragedy, travel patterns and travel plans of tourists and other travellers worldwide might not return to the pre-COVID-19 state. Experts fear this pandemic might leave a lasting impression on the minds of travellers that might change the way people look at travel, impacting the travel and tourism industries significantly, at least in the short to medium term.

4.2. How are Transport Companies Responding?

Transport organizations worldwide are focusing on several ways to minimize the risks of infection and transmission, as well as trying to strike a balance between running operations with a skeleton workforce and ensuring essential goods and services are not impacted. The sector is trying to attain the state of ‘no-touch’ through various means.

Just like other sectors, public transport companies too are trying to reach the stage of contact-less services. This might have become a necessity in today’s scenario, but many experts believe this might as well become standard operations for the sector – achieving the new ‘no-touch’.

5.The Rising Importance of Citizen Services

As industries and businesses across the world come to a standstill, city governments and local authorities are struggling to keep their services going. It is imperative for town councils to continue their services as they are pivotal in the daily lives of citizens – and more so in the current situation.

5.1. Growing Challenges with Municipal Waste Management

With the growing pandemic has accentuated the significance of waste management services – medical, household and other hazardous waste – in mitigating possible secondary impacts on citizens’ health and the environment.

• Effective management of biomedical and health-care waste including infected masks, gloves and other protective equipment requires adequately trained personnel. And with much of the workforce in isolation or quarantine, municipalities are struggling with managing special waste.

• The coronavirus pandemic has intensified the need for a contingency plan for municipal waste management. Such plans should ideally involve alternative solutions for personnel, vehicles, infectious waste and its accumulation, washing, disinfection and street cleaning services.
  In addition to waste management, the current restrictions and skeleton workforce are impacting several other municipal level maintenance and operations services such as maintenance of street lighting, handling citizen helplines, frontline citizen desks and kiosks etc.

5.2. A Case for Significant Technology Intervention

As with other sectors, city governments have been shifting towards increased use of technology in regular civic services. However, the coronavirus outbreak has exposed the dire need for a paradigm shift from the human-led model to a more ‘contact-less’ and ‘no-touch’ service model via the use of technology.

• Several cities, in collaboration with the private sector, are also piloting the use of customized robots for waste collection and disposal, thereby minimizing the requirement of a human workforce as well as reducing chances of exposure to dangerous substances and infections.

• An effective way of reducing the dependence on human maintenance teams and keeping them shielded from various kinds of exposure, is the usage of IoT based smart streetlights which are equipped with sensors. For instance, the city of Taipei implemented smart street lighting in collaboration with Microsoft, where it changed more than 130,000 streetlights. The time is apt for all major cities across the world to adopt similar initiatives.

5.3. Opportunities in Remote Working

The answer to many issues faced by local authorities and municipalities during a pandemic like situation might lie in remote working of staff and workers, and the delivery of virtual services. There are several areas where local governments can towards this concept and have the services delivered to their citizens:

•  A global pandemic will usually result in citizen helplines being flooded with calls. With the restrictions on movement and persistent global lockdowns, citizen helplines can be operated by workers from home. Several local governments also operate contact centres (at times shared services) which can also be converted into work-at-home models to deal with situations which demand physical isolation.

• In situations like the ones prevalent today, citizen frontline desks and self-service kiosks for services including driving license renewals and corrections, applications for utilities, passport applications, other document uploads etc. can be replaced by self-service portals which can add to the safety and security of citizens.

The move towards a remote working model for local governments must ideally be pivoted around technology:

• Authorities must ensure adequate infrastructure to have their staff work remotely from their homes to deal with large call volumes and other citizen requests.

• The work done by such workers can be monitored by using Work At Home Agent (WAHA) software, which can also double up as workforce management tools, accentuating the effectiveness of remote working models.

• Such IT infrastructure must also be equipped with features of data protection to ensure citizen data always remains protected.

• Local governments should also consider deploying chatbots for more routine and repetitive tasks With necessary IT security norms in place, this model can reduce human interactions at times of such outbreaks and mitigate the risks of such services being disrupted completely.

6. Closing Comments

We live in a world fraught with myriad risks – and the count just keeps soaring. Over the last several years the world has grossly neglected potential threats from sources such as pathogens, either naturally occurring or man-made. And this COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the numerous gaping holes in our preparedness to deal with such pathogenic outbreaks. It has become amply clear that adequate global preparedness can only be achieved through political solidarity and willingness, investments towards the cause, and global collaboration. But just as governments need to collaborate and build a global defence system for public health, organizations too need to step up their game:

• Companies must develop a solid Business Continuity Plan (BCP) that accounts for all possible contingencies and put them to test at regular intervals to ensure preparedness for any emergency.

• Initiatives that can be put to test should include natural BCP measures such as staff working from home or be co-located at a business centre as opposed to large conventional offices – situations and scenarios that test whether the BCP models have built-in elements of agility and responsiveness.

• Regular, schedule-based cleaning and disinfection of premises ad assets to mitigate risks from pathogenic attacks:
  • Such cleaning drives should be done daily in sectors such as healthcare and transportation services.
  • Companies should look at deploying intelligent robots for cleaning and disinfecting where possible to reduce both human reliance and risk of exposure to them.

• On similar lines, bots can be used for monitoring patients at hospitals and even dispensing medications.

• Public services which have workers in shifts can have shift handovers in a ‘no-touch’ manner through smartphone apps instead of physical handovers.

Once the roadmap is drawn out, companies should then invest in developing skills, acquiring technologies as well as adequate talent. Effective planning, mutual collaboration and an undaunting will are the pre-requisites for governments as well as organizations to survive this COVID-19 pandemic and be prepared for a smarter future.