Yes, but that is also of course the opportunity of this crisis. We all forced to update and modernize our working methods and to ensure that we have the technical means to do that.
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I think some highly flexible innovative businesses need support and opportunities to boom. We know lower income, marginalised are at huge risk - they are harder for bigger business to reach. But,next generation solution providers for the marginalised and the excluded maybe appearing through the technology ( disruptive tech ) space. For example, Bima ( UK) in bringing insurance to people who have never had it, First Circle ( Phillipines ) providing liquidity to small businesses. Even digital wallets like Xapo that are disrupting traditional financial systems and allowing fund transfer ( in emergencies just like this ) without middlemen/middlewomen charging fees. Technology and innovative firms are going to be invaluable. Bigger firms donât need all the answers themselves. They can parter with the Social Enterprises and SMEs.
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I love it too! I think we need to collect best practices like this one, and make them widely available.
Encouraging teleworking is one thing, but understanding its feasibility for working parents is something else. Distant learning for young children require a lot of supervisionâŚThe stress of not being able to deliver at the same level as our colleagues without children can be overwhelming!
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There are lots of simple ways we can do this at a community level too. Here are a couple of fun activities to try and home. One is a simple activity with just pepper and water and another one uses glittler to show the power of soap. Perhaps you have seen them spreading virally on twitter.
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This is a great point and will look at this study. Unfortunately, there is not enough understanding of the situation and key messages by employers themselves which is gap we need to fill
Yes I love the pepper and water. what is your take on the glow germ?
What can we learn going forward from all the telework now happening? Are there certain business processes or selected institutions whose methods of work can be modernized through this experience? On the flipside what about infrastructure and connectivity gaps?
Question number three:
Sub question: And how can business partner with others to scale action across markets?
A3.1: USCIB CEO and President Peter Robinson has called for a cooperative, unified, borderless business and government partnership response to the global threat that is the COVID-19 Virus, on par with the challenges of the Space Race of the last century â something we are calling a âmultilateral moonshot mindsetâ. Many in the business community define moonshot thinking as choosing a huge problem (like this pandemic or climate change) and proposing to create a radical solution to the problem using a disruptive technology. For this to happen you have to abandon the idea of creating a 10% incremental improvement and focus on a solution that will bring ten times (x10) improvements or solve it completely.
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I think it is not an âeither-orâ, but it goes hand-in-hand. As ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said: âThis is no longer only a global health crisis, it is also a major labour market and economic crisis that is having a huge impact on peopleâ. We need to do both, adress the health as well as the social and economic impact.
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In AB InBevâs operation in China we have donated medical supplies, hand sanitizer, disinfectants, gloves, protective clothing and masks, using our distribution channels which are also providing health and safety information.
We developed a social marketing campaign â Together we will winâ to fight Coronavirus in China.
In China, Our internal procedures ensure breweries operate safely for our people and communities regarding COVID-19
We have enhanced sanitation and handwashing rules and procedures in accordance with guidance from the authorities
We have designed in China a Guideline for Return-to-Work so that the employees can arrange their return time properly per their current location and destination, taking COVID prevention measures and following the quarantine days strictly according to the requirements of the local governments to ensure their own safety and health.
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Governments would need to think about social protection including review of taxation
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A3.2: How do we use this âmultilateral moonshot mindsetâ to create partnerships that scale effective action? This dialogue today is a good start. We need organizations like Business Fights Poverty and Business Partners for Sustainable Development to host online collaborative incubation laboratories that, starting with a platform of sound science, engage in evidence-based questioning of everything and everyone. These collaborations should generate partnership ideas, with no limitations â then catalog, prioritize and select the best concepts for further development. Then turn to foundations to fund the best ideas and the best partnerships that are coming up with the best concepts.
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And the stress of not having an income if you are in the gig economy or owner of a business during this time. or if you are a health worker.
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BrewDog are doing the same in the UK - donating to anyone that needs it
I agree Francesca but I think it helps to think about 3 things. 1. how to reduce spread of disease now. 2. how to limit the livelihood disaster for the most vulnerable NOW, whether that is due to sickness or the economic lockdown. and 3 how to build back better? Many are already hungry and poor, so the economics of stopping the spread are huge and immediate, while necessary.
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a good way could be to approach multinational companies that have offices in several countries, as they are the ones learning from their Asian and now European offices and then replicating these in Africa or Latin America that will be the next
From: * Ali Karami Ruiz, Senior Director for Strategic Engagement and Communications, Business, OECD
We commend the number of initiatives that companies of all sizes have taken to fight this pandemic. As these initiatives multiply, there is a clear role for national business organizations to identify effective practices that can be scaled up or adopted by SMEs to coordinate efforts and communicate them to their stakeholders.
¡ In times of critical need, more business-to-government foresight and response is needed to address any potential product or supply chain shortages. We see in Europe (and beyond) a shortage of disinfectant hand gel and protective masks. Companies like LVMH have now started producing this much-needed gel in the same factory the group uses to produce perfumes. This same problem-solving thinking and action could be applied to address other supply chain shortages, and an urgent question must be addressed as to how new ventilators for hospitals could be produced in order to avoidâbeyond any hospital bed saturationsâa shortage of medical equipment that will be needed to fight the outbreak.
¡ In South Korea, despite being one of the first countries hit by the pandemic, numbers are going down thanks to the use of rapid diagnosis tests across the population. This practice could be expanded to other countries. Not enough policy dialogue and coordination is taking place to leverage what has been successful in certain countries and apply it in others where the cases are soaring or will soar. There is clearly a role for both G7 and G20 here.
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Amen! I am reading and participating in this discussion while trying to help my 9-yo learn equivalent fractions via a computer program!
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