Fighting The Covid Pandemic, Digitally

Strong Net connectivity is a must as more universities opt for virtual classrooms and firms allow staff to work from home

- V Sridhar

The recent warning by the Supreme Court on upholding the definition of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) as defined by the Department of Telecommunications and refusing to admit any self-assessment of the same by the telcos has once again pushed the telcos against the wall. While the apex court went by the executive decision on the calculation of the AGR and the associated lawful compliance by the telcos, it is time to pause and rethink about the broader implications of the same.

With universities, schools, and businesses shutting down as a precautionary measure to prevent spread of coronavirus, digitisation and the Internet have come to the rescue to some extent. Following the footsteps of the large universities such as MIT and Harvard, Indian institutions including IITs and IIITs have started holding virtual classrooms due to suspension of face to face classes.

Virtual classrooms

Enabled by virtual classroom software, faculty members conduct online classes, share presentations, enable question answer sessions for the students, conduct quizzes and exams. Students from their respective homes connect to these classes, enjoy their online camaraderie, build their online social connections, and learn collaboratively. Once pioneered by Coursera and edX for individual personal learning, virtual classrooms as replacement of face to face classes have become reality due to shutdowns.

Almost all the IT companies in Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai have enabled work from home option for their employees. Enabled by online collaboration and project management tools, enterprises have curtailed physical travel of employees and conduct project meetings, software development and deployment from their homes.

Poor connectivity