The global health pandemic and the severe recession that many countries face have brought into focus a number of important challenges as governments attempt to keep their populations healthy and workforce productive. There is a growing crisis for essential services, such as healthcare and public transport as well as inequality in access to opportunities to work remotely. The emerging “new normal” is a window of opportunity to shape the economic recovery for essential health and public transport services and the move to hybrid modes of working.

Looking further ahead, countries can accelerate their economic recovery by upgrading their digital infrastructure to enable flexible working, innovation, and more geographically even distribution of work opportunities. This second publication of the 5G Outlook Series explores three ways for 5G to accelerate the digital transformation of these types of essential services and workplace activities in the near term:

• Accelerating the move to a value-based healthcare system that is predictive, preventative, personalized, and participatory.
• Building confidence in public transport so citizens can travel safely to their workplace and begin to bring citizens back into city centres.
• Enabling the widespread use of extended reality using 5G to usher in a more immersive alternative to current collaboration tools which will unlock efficiencies and opportunities in the workplace.

Report by the World Economic Forum