Zakir Ahmed, Senior Vice President & GM - Asia Pacific & Japan at Kofax.

As the COVID-19 pandemic began disrupting business operations on an unprecedented scale, organizations focused on mitigating the impact of the crisis. Deploying collaboration technology became the priority as employees shifted to work from home. But now that businesses are past the early pivot point, they must turn an eye to the future – and put in place a workforce resilient to future disruptions.

One way to get past the COVID curve is to think about digital investments more broadly and how expanding technology capacity can augment the workforce. Finding the right balance between human workers and the digital workforce will go a long way in helping businesses mitigate the pandemic’s impact on operations while also helping them prepare for tomorrow. Intelligent automation is the key to making this happen. With it, businesses can foster seamless collaboration among remote workers, engage and serve customers, and make the overall business more resilient to future disruption.

PETALING JAYA, 25 NOVEMBER 2020- The pandemic has been one of the most adverse challenges that our nation is facing and the ‘new normal’ is now becoming second nature to us. Whilst thousands of traditional and local businesses continue to be disproportionately impacted by the implications of various forms of movement restrictions, their steadfast dedication in serving their customers is a testament to their role in our nation’s economy. 

As a homegrown company, Grab was moved by their tenacity and have been helping these business digitalise themselves so they can maintain their operations while helping the economy to recover. Efforts included the Grab (loves) Local Heroes campaign and government efforts that Grab supported such as Shop Malaysia Online (SMO) and ePENJANA.

KUALA LUMPUR, November 25, 2020 —The rapid digitalization of ASEAN’s essential industries such as education, healthcare and supply chain amid the global pandemic has opened new possibilities for digital disruptors, according to a new study by Cisco and Jungle Ventures.

Titled Emerging Disruptors from the Global Pandemic, the report looks at the transformation of essential services in the region during COVID-19 and the models of successful disruptors. It highlights how the national digitalization agendas of many ASEAN countries has helped ease the transition for the region’s organizations to remote operations and working during COVID-19. As a result, ASEAN is emerging as one of the fastest growing mobile-first economies in the world, with the development of a multiple digital-native platforms spanning essential sectors.