–or another phase of evolution

Dear Sir,

WE in Guyana must continue to support measures put in place by government to keep us all safe from the coronavirus. One hundred-and-nine persons with COVID-19 signals the need for greater awareness of the debilitating effects of this disease on personal, community and national health.

Government is doing its utmost to protect lives, but in order for it to be truly effective, every Guyanese must be complemented with a demonstration of personal responsibility to adhere to those measures, not only for their own good, but also the good of our entire nation. I suspect that, in the face of this creeping increase in the number of people being infected, the authorities would eventually have to take stronger measures to keep all safe.

Indeed, as it is with the rest of the world, Guyana is experiencing significant change, and our local communities and the nation as a whole must be reorganised to adapt to and benefit from this change. I can recall that some years ago, there was a plan to network all public-health facilities in all ten administrative regions into a shared database. This would have created a single space with information, including things like medical history of patients, treatment, and responses to treatments.

In the event of a patient relocating from one region to another, that healthcare administration would have access to such vital information. Apart from that, it would have encouraged data mining, which would help in national healthcare planning, and give the appropriate authorities the capacity to track the movement of certain illnesses. I am not sure what has happened to that plan. If it is in place, then excellent; if not then, perhaps, it is a good project to activate at this time.

I have had to confront a prejudice I had that nothing good can come from COVID-19. I have come to realise that one of the profound things about the coronavirus is the way it is forcing us to reflect on our attitude towards life, in particular, and our communities, in general; the way we think about and do ordinary, taken-for-granted activities at the personal, corporate and national levels. For example, one of the things we must now reconsider is our use of space. COVID-19 is now actively and aggressively occupying this very limited space in which we carry on our physical lives. We, humans, and this virus must now co- exist. And it is not a matter of choice but clearly the new reality of human society. This new state of affairs and the gradual inevitable acceptance of it would, in time, influence the full and complete reopening of the world economy even at the risk of many more deaths due to COVID-19. But we, in this natural world, cannot go on like this without witnessing the collapse of our society. In any case, the resilience of human society would not allow us to surrender, to the fear and aggressiveness of this pandemic, eternally. We will find a way, as we have always done, in times of other pandemics and very serious challenges to global healthcare, to sustain ourselves and to encourage progressive development.

However, the emergence of this pandemic, which caught the world by surprise, surprisingly, has caused the world to pause, lockdown, rethink, and reconsider how it will move forward with full knowledge of this new reality of coexistence in the same space. It has also sharpened our sense of awareness and strengthened our ability not only to adapt but also to innovate. Those two (adapt and innovate) have a reciprocal influence on each other. Reflecting on it, there are two interesting areas, which demonstrate our ability to adapt and innovate.

One such field that immediately lends itself to deep thought is the way we stay connected, in this moment, to our families, social circles, communities, corporations and the world. Before the pandemic, travelling physically, to different states and countries, for work, business, education or pleasure, was seen as a routine activity. People traveled from place to place, as a matter of course, on personal, corporate or governmental business. For millions, of people, their mode of travel is by air. As a result, the aviation industry was booming with continuous creation of jobs for thousands, at different levels. Bigger and faster planes were being designed and developed. Now, with COVID-19, and strict measures put in place by governments around the world including, closing air spaces, people are unable and afraid to travel. The aviation industry and allied industries are suffering to the point where they are being decimated, in every sense of that word.

The skies are almost cleared of air travel with about 75% of all planes grounded, at airports, around the world. This is very good for the natural environment, as it has drastically reduced pollution levels, in the air, but bad for the aviation and related industries because it means the loss of business, revenue and jobs. As we have seen, this has a knock-on effect on the economies of the world in multiple ways. Even if all governments were to reopen their air spaces tomorrow, and allow flights in, it would take years before that industry even begin to show any sign of its high financial performance as it was in pre-pandemic times. In fact, many airlines have already gone bankrupt and other might never be able to make it back in the industry. Again, there is the on-going debate on remodeling planes to use space in a different way to maintain social distancing. The industry would never be the same again.

Even with all of that, the global village remains connected to all of its parts. It is doing so virtually. We are inside and outside, isolated at home and yet in the company of all, local and global, all at the same time. This is facilitated by the use of the World Wide Web and the Internet with its various social media platforms and other applications. Without physical travel we can still see and talk to members of our family living overseas, be present at and participate in meetings, conferences and other events in and beyond our national frontiers. We can still buy, sell and do business. We are still very connected. Thinking about it, we are using space in a different way; not physically but virtually. Thanks to the Internet that has collapsed space and allowed us to communicate and stay in touch with the world, in real time, from any and every part of the world. Everyone is everyone’s neighbour. The underside to this, of course, is the loss of the human touch and the inconvenient restriction of our interactions to only those images what we can see and hear. But even this restriction is being removed by other kinds of innovations now being developed.

The other area is science. This has a double effect. In almost every country, governments have said that they are relying on advice given by medical and other scientists to implement measures to combat this disease. They are consulting and listening to their medical scientists and doctors. And they are quite right to do so because only science can create the path that can help us to safely navigate the dangers of this infectious disease; one that encourages innovation in hardware, software and medicines that would allow us to coexist with COVID- 19.

What is happening now is the development of a whole new regime of surveillance and medical technologies across the globe. Through these technologies, authorities can know, for example, the movements of individuals, groups of individuals or how populations are moving on aggerate levels. Authorities can trace and contact individuals, whom they believe may have contracted COVID-19, or have been in contact with people, who have the virus. People can also get in contact with the authorities for information and help if they start presenting symptoms of the virus.

Interestingly, these applications are simple to use even on mobile phones. Incredibly, the mobile phone with its adaptability to multiple technological applications and platforms has become almost indispensable extensions of everything we are as humans; the world would be a totally different place without it.

Then, there is Under-the-Skin technologies that can probe one’s thoughts and feelings on various issues at any time. Society can actually know an individual more than he/ she wants to be known. It is a frightening thought because such technologies erase the boundaries of privacy; everything become known, to everyone, even personal thoughts. The loss of privacy in an increasingly surveillance society is not without complex challenges. On the one hand, health authorities can obtain biometric data on individuals and groups of individuals. This information can be used to more accurately prescribe conditions or health requisites for individuals, with various health needs, in different environmental and social contexts. Or, to track the spread of diseases, in communities. On the other hand, such technologies can be abused, by governmental bodies and corporate bosses, to control, whole swaths of people, or to maximize corporate profits and the bottom-line of companies. Clearly, there are economic and political consequences to this new series of technologies.

Eventually, governments will have to consider what is the best approach to store, protect and use the ever increasing, everlasting amounts of personal and private health and other information of individuals all over the world. They will have to come up with enforceable laws and regulations to protect this vast reservoir of information. Perhaps, a global independent intergovernmental or corporate body under strict laws and regulations can help but it cannot be left to governments, particularly, those that have a tendency to be repressive and believe that they are omnipotent. Perhaps, too, this is one of the things we will see post COVID-19. Governments, global corporate, religious and other community leaders and stakeholders working together, with quite care and deliberation, to protect the abuse of our new global surveillance society.

The central point of all of this is that this pandemic is pushing us, in this period of human history, to rethink, in a very deep way, the world in which we live; how we use space and recourse our activities, design, develop and repurpose technologies to help us with every day chores. It has changed the world as we know it. But the change is not necessarily a bad thing because, in essence, it is part of the evolution of human society, part of our unfolding, to understand, to adapt and to live side by side with things we can and cannot see in this shared space on earth.

Regards,

Royston King