Undoubtedly, COVID-19 has changed the world and has become a “life changing event”. Some of these changes are obvious and may be temporary, yet others will most likely endure, and greatly influence tremendously people’s habits and the way businesses are conducted. Many people are wondering what “the new normal” will look like. 无可否认，COVID-19已经改变了世界，对多数人而言，也成为了一个“改变人生的重要事件”。有些变化是显而易见的，也许是暂时的，但有些趋势上的变化可能将不断持续下去，并极大地影响人们的习惯和生活方式。因此，疫情后“新常态”将如何呈现成为许多人关注的焦点。 In this article, we bring you the primary effects of Covid-19 on the world’s economy, and its main new trends. Some Israeli companies, including IsCham members, have begun to adapt to these new trends, offering different technological solutions to be implemented in the post COVID-19 era. 本文将介绍COVID-19对世界经济的主要影响及其带来的新趋势。商会会员和许多以色列公司都逐渐开始适应新趋势，并尝试为社会提供不同的技术解决方案，这些方案有望在后疫情时代逐步实施实现。
3 main effects of Covid-19
COVID-19的3个主要影响
1. Work from home – in the post COVID-19 era, businesses understand that many employees can continue working from home, and as a result, continue social distancing and save costs on real estate offices. 居家办公：后COVID-19时代，更多企业意识到员工可以居家办公，并能有效保持社交距离，节省办公室的运营成本。 2. Density is now undesirable by consumers - thus various industries must rapidly re-invent both their business models & value proposition. At work, that will mean fewer open space environments, crowded elevators, skyscrapers, or crowded commutes. A clear example is the $6.6 billion write-down by Softbank on WeWork, that stands to lose even more as the basic value proposition of WeWork— working side by side next to strangers — has become utterly unwanted overnight. Other examples include airlines and higher education institutions that are based on enclosed, crowded places. 密集场所不被青睐：消费者不再青睐人群密集的场所，因此各行业必须迅速重新摸索适应新常态的商业模式和品牌价值主张。在工作环境中，意味着开放空间环境、厢式电梯、摩天大楼、通勤工具等人员密集场所，都需要做出改变。例如：软银在WeWork这项投资上资产已减值了66亿美金，且很可能会损失更多。这是由于WeWork的基本价值主张，即与陌生人并肩工作，一夜之间成了众矢之的。其他的例子还包括以封闭拥挤场为基础开展商业活动的航空业设施、高等教育机构等。 3. The growth of single-person households that has become common in the last few decades is expected to increase even more due to social distancing. This will affect countries’ population growth rate, the growing rate of aging population and eventually the shrinkage of the working population. As a result, economies will be affected tremendously in the next few decades. 单身人数增多：过去几十年来，各国都见证了“单人家庭”数量的不断增长。由于此次疫情对社交距离的影响，预计这一数量将进一步增加。这种变化将影响各国的人口增长率、人口老龄化的增长速度和工作人口的比例。 因此，未来几十年，经济将受到巨大影响。
5 New trends accelerated by COVID-19
COVID-19加速了五大新趋势
1. Online commerce, mobile commerce & No-Touch alternate payment tools- In the post COVID-19 era, businesses understand they must take their offering online, or they will not survive. Chinese e-commerce apps have increased their activities, with Alibaba’s Tmall reaching 700 Million annual active users. The Israeli company PointMe, created a technology that makes everything on the physical world clickable as in the digital world by using smartphones as a clickable tool, just like a TV remote control. 在线商务、移动商务和无接触替代支付工具：在后COVID-19时代，企业逐渐意识到线上服务的重要性，否则将无法适应市场竞争。中国电子商务应用APP的活跃度也在不断提升，阿里巴巴天猫的每年活跃用户已达7亿。以色列公司PointMe创造了一种技术，以智能手机为媒介，使物理世界上的一切都像数字世界一样可点击，如同使用了电视遥控器一样。
2. Expanded opportunities using automation – companies’ such as Riskified, with its AI solution that accurately differentiates legitimate customers from bad actors, are becoming more relevant, since both consumers and merchants are looking for tools to protect their accounts and review transactions. 更多自动化需求：例如Riskified公司，其AI解决方案能够准确地将合法客户与不良行为者区分开来，当客户和商家都在寻找工具来保护他们的账户和审查交易时，自动化工具将提供更多价值。 3. Demand for faster delivery - shipping and logistics have crucial elements for the success of the e-commerce brand. Free delivery is not enough and it’s not as relevant as fast shipping. Apps focusing on better and faster shipping have strengthened their presence since the pandemic, including examples such as “MyUS" and “Better shipping” for Shopify. 更快运输的需求：运输和物流是电子商务品牌获得成功的关键因素。仅仅是免费送货还不够，快速运输变得尤为重要。自疫情爆发以来，专注于更好和更快航运的APP得到更多关注，如“MyUS”和“Better Shipping”等。 4. Telemedicine will become the norm- While online doctors’ appointments existed before the outbreak, they were not entirely accessible or popular. Patients and healthcare professionals alike, realize it is unnecessary for every interaction to be in an office setting. Sheba Medical Center is a good example of rapid adaptation to this new reality. Triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine services increased from a few hundred to 10,000 appointments per month at its peak across 116 separate clinics. Sheba is taking telemedicine to a new level by investing in a wide range of telemedicine services and technologies. Israeli companies such as Inovytech, Alango, Oxitone, Cardiacsense, Newsight Imaging and more are developing innovative solutions to meet the new needs for telemedicine, spreading them in China and around the globe. 远程医疗将成为常态：疫情爆发前，线上就医的方式就已存在，但可行性不高，也未受到大众的广泛使用。疫情之后，病人和医师都逐渐意识到没有必要每一次诊疗都在医院里进行。舍巴医疗中心（Sheba Medical Center）是快速适应这一新常态的典范。由COVID-19大流行引起的远程医疗服务在高峰时从每月几百人增加到上万人，覆盖116个不同的诊所。舍巴通过广泛投资于远程医疗服务和技术，将远程医疗提升到一个新的水平。其他以色列公司，如Inovytech、Alango、Oxitone、CardiacSense、Newsight Imaging等，也都在开发创新解决方案，以满足远程医疗的需求，并将其推广到中国和全世界。 5. Tourism industry will have to re-invent itself: Tourism service providers such as airlines, online platforms etc., must re-write their strategies and offerings to survive and provide solutions during these challenging times. For example, travel and tourism companies will need to adapt and become more flexible; airlines and hospitality companies will offer more adaptable cancellation policies to allow passengers to make changes to their reservations without the cost of massive fees. Customers will choose travel companies who are more flexible when unpredictable situations arise. 持续创新旅游行业：游客服务供应商，如航空公司、在线平台等必须重新定义公司的策略和产品，从而能够在这个充满挑战的时代继续生存。例如，旅行公司需要适应疫情后的新常态并提供更加灵活的服务；航空公司和酒店需提供更具普适性的退改政策，允许乘客在承担较少损失的情况下退改签。当不可预测的情况出现时，消费者会选择那些更为灵活的旅游服务商。
It is still too soon to evaluate the full scale of the pandemic's consequences, yet it is certain that the world will not be the same again.
现在对疫情的全面后果进行评估还为时尚早，不过肯定的是，世界早已大为不同。
Resources:
1. Eddie Yoon- 3 Behavioral Trends That Will Reshape Our Post-Covid World. HBR.
https://hbr.org/2020/05/3-behavioral-trends-that-will-reshape-our-post-covid-world 2. Stephanie Burns - 4 Business Trends Emerging From COVID-19. FORBES. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephanieburns/2020/04/22/4-business-trends-emerging-from-covid-19/#230cc9c97d68
3. Joe Dyer - 6 Business Trends Likely to Stick Around After COVID-19. PROJEKT202. https://projekt202.com/blog/2020/6-business-trends-likely-to-stick-around-after-covid-19
If you are interested in joining IsCham as a member, please feel free to contact us:
如果您想成为中国以色列商会的会员，欢迎联系：info@ischam.org