“Problem-solving is essential to engineering”
There is no doubt that the COVID-19 Pandemic has had devastating effects on the world over the past year and half. It can be easily stated as one of the darkest of times in the existence of humanity. To think that even in this day and age, with so many technological advancements, a deadly virus could spread at such a perilous rate is certainly alarming.
However, technology did bounce back and has done a great job in mitigating the spread of virus and connecting mankind like never before. Data, being at the core of these activities, of course. As data is always correct, without any bias, speaking in socio-political terms.
Data has played a key role in medical science, be it medical imaging, genomics or drug discovery. Adding to that, real-time data analysis helped in forecasting possible outbreaks.
The evaluation of data that is derived from medical studies goes to such an extent that we are to get to the origin the coronavirus and also how it has been transmitted to such a large extent of people in such a short span of time.
Going hand in hand with data science, artificial intelligence also played an important part in key areas such as Radiology, test kit development and much more. AI-driven diagnostics has vastly improved the rate of diagnoses.
The most powerful device in today’s day and age, the smartphone, has also had a significant impact controlling the spread of COVID-19. It helped in tracking the spread of the disease through capitalizing on the location services.
Data modelling and mathematical modelling has helped a lot in mapping out spread of the virus by studying the patterns of movement in world population, recognizing points of contact, zeroing in on potential sources and also isolating them for further prevention of disease.
In conclusion, as with any outbreak of disease, the best way to lead the fight against the pandemic is to collect, store, study, analyse and interpret the data. This can happen only through big data as it can store massive amounts of information, which unfortunately is the reality we have to face while dealing with the huge toll the pandemic has taken on humanity as a whole.