[COVID-19 Transformation] "The Next Year Will Determine Whether Untact Services Continue"

Expert Panel of Five Perspectives

[Asia Economy Reporters Daeseop Kim and Hyewon Moon] The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has accelerated the spread of contactless (untact) activities across our economy, industry, and society as a whole. With the increasing demand for untact services, various industries such as telemedicine, online education, online shopping, and video conferencing are also becoming more active.

Experts in the field are particularly focusing on the untact learning experience. As untact experiences naturally spread across all age groups due to the impact of COVID-19, it is expected that the digital economy utilizing ICT will accelerate in the post-COVID era.

Yuri Park, Head of the Internet Convergence Policy Group at the ICT Strategy Research Office of the Korea Information Society Development Institute, stated, "Consumption of untact services is increasing and growing due to COVID-19, and these experiences will be factors accelerating the digital economy. Although it varies by sector, the next year after COVID-19 will be a crucial period to determine whether untact services will continue or revert to pre-COVID-19 conditions."

Ikseong Kim, Professor at Dongduk Women’s University and Honorary President of the Korean Distribution Science Association, predicted, "Even the elderly, who were not accustomed to online culture, are now becoming familiar due to the influence of COVID-19. As learning experiences become important, untact activities are expected to become more active across all age groups."

COVID-19 is causing changes in people's behavior patterns and values. There are voices suggesting that most members of society will internalize untact behavior patterns and inevitably move toward accepting these changes as natural.

Donghee Shin, Head of the Edutech Office at Jaeneung e-Academy, explained, "Until now, face-to-face contact was an ordinary part of daily life, but people have consciously started to avoid it. This avoidance behavior, through repeated learning, is becoming a kind of behavioral pattern throughout society."

The experiences caused by COVID-19 are also expected to influence the activation of new businesses and related industries. In Korea, telemedicine, which was previously prohibited by law, was temporarily allowed due to the spread of COVID-19.

Lee Heehoon, Professor in the Department of Technology Management at KAIST and Auditor of the Korea Smart Healthcare Association, emphasized, "Among untact industries, the health sector needs to be introduced and developed as soon as possible. From the patient's perspective, it is an excellent technology because they can receive monitoring through remote medical care and emergency treatment can be provided if health issues suddenly arise."

In the post-COVID era, new changes are also expected in industries related to online education, online shopping, and video conferencing, which have become more active due to COVID-19. Shin said, "Although online learning has existed for decades, it was difficult to say it was significantly activated until recently. However, with offline education unable to be properly provided due to COVID-19, companies equipped with online education services have been presented with a great opportunity."

Daewon Heo, Team Leader of the Skype Business Team at Daesung Group, said, "Due to the spread of COVID-19, inquiries about Skype, which used to be fewer than five per day on average, surged to as many as 30 per day at times. To keep up with the untact trend, businesses will need to develop differentiated services in the future."

Skype is a software-based communication platform by Microsoft (MS). It enables voice, video, and text conversations on internet-connected computers, smartphones, and other devices. Daesung Group has been providing Skype services domestically through Daesung Holdings IT Business Division since 2011.

The foundation for the continued growth of untact business is ICT and artificial intelligence (AI) technology. As we enter the post-COVID era, companies’ response strategies to survive in the untact market are becoming increasingly important. Park said, "Untact business must be based on ICT and AI technologies, but first and foremost, it is important how necessary the service is in the market and what problems the service solves."

Shin added, "Companies that cannot move beyond the traditional face-to-face methods of product production, distribution, and services will face difficulties in growth. However, misunderstanding untact and recklessly converting all products and services to contactless is risky. When functions and services previously provided face-to-face are converted to untact methods, the value offered to consumers in terms of usability must be equal to or greater than before."