Digital technologies are becoming increasingly important in a world dominated by the coronavirus crisis. They are being used to monitor the spread of the virus; to research and develop tests, vaccines and treatments; and to establish secure networks and communication. These are just some of the reasons why many consumers regard digitalisation and AI as a saving grace in the crisis. The vast majority of those surveyed by adesso support the use of high-tech solutions to fight the pandemic, and would in turn be willing to give up some of their personal data.
The results in detail:
AI: benefiting from the crisis. With medical staff using artificial intelligence to search for drugs to combat Covid-19, researchers working on solutions to detect signs of infection in coughing sounds, disinfection robots independently cleaning hospitals and collaborative robots, or cobots, taking swabs autonomously, digital technologies have taken a major step forward in the fight against the pandemic. Of those surveyed, 68 % believe that AI has gained importance as a result of the coronavirus.
Disappointment in public administration. However, survey respondents believe that there is significant room for improvement when it comes to public administration, with 93 % of those surveyed calling for more public administration processes to be digitalised. Almost as many people – 88 % of respondents – believe that health authorities in Germany fail to make even rudimentary use of the available possibilities. Case in point: SORMAS. SORMAS is a tool that is designed to enable chains of infection to be tracked across district or municipality borders. Instead, many public bodies continue to use fax machines for these processes.
Sacrificing privacy. Despite widespread debate, and in contrast to the opinions of many experts, consumers are willing to share their personal data in the name of combating the pandemic. Among survey respondents, 76 % said that they would provide information allowing their contacts to be traced, and 67 % said that they would use an AI-supported app that would automatically assess the risk of various contacts.
