Since the discovery of the Coronavirus disease, COVID-19 in China, particularly in the city of Wuhan, the spread has rapidly accelerated to the point of affecting almost every country in the world. In the face of this invisible danger, giants in digital technology, artificial intelligence and data science have made enormous efforts to offer solutions that can help both in the fight against the spread and in the treatment of the virus. While no official cure has yet been found for this global plague, the use of certain technologies has helped to limit the damage in some places. The usefulness of drones...

The utility of drones...

The use of unmanned flying objects is one of the safest and fastest ways to deliver medical supplies and equipment. It considerably decreases the risk for medical staff and presents a time saving in terms of transportation between different hospitals, screening centers and patient care centers. Drones are also a very good way to raise awareness about barrier actions, to disinfect public spaces and also to enforce quarantine and/or containment.

If the drones are used in the early days of the project, they will be a great way to make sure that people are aware of the risks.

While drones were initially used in preventive measures in countries such as China, France, Spain and Italy among others, researchers at the University of South Australia, in conjunction with the Canadian company Draganfly are working to develop a pandemic drone. Equipped with sensors and cameras coupled with image analysis software to measure the temperature, heart rate and breathing of people. The device will even be able to identify people who sneeze and cough.

Geolocation and tracking, an effective strategy

While tracking and geolocation of people with COVID-19 raise privacy concerns, they have proven effective in the fight to contain the epidemic. These technologies not only allow the dissemination of information to users but also document their exposure to outbreaks as they travel. Data provided to authorities by telephone operators in several countries such as France and China have made it possible to trace the path of COVID-19 and also the movement of users and the people with whom they had contact.

In South Korea, which is leading the way in managing the epidemic, test results have been communicated individually to those involved via their smartphones and infected people are traced and their presence is indicated on geolocation applications. Similar situation in Taiwan which systematically tracks all people returning from a trip abroad or having been in contact with a patient. The location of these people are displayed in real time on a map and monitored by the authorities.

Artificial intelligence (AI) to aid in identification and diagnosis

The use of artificial intelligence in the monitoring and surveillance of infectious diseases has allowed companies to alert authorities to the existence and spread of the coronavirus. From the analysis of data coming from various sources (media, governments, social networks...) artificial intelligence allows to detect outbreaks of contamination. Such was the case with the start-up BlueDot in Canada thanks to its algorithm that analyzes every 15 minutes hundreds of thousands of press articles, official reports, air traffic data and professional forums in 65 languages.

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With its ability to track more than 150 types of disease and monitor more than 400 million smartphones, BlueDot was able to alert its customers, government agencies, airlines or hospitals as early as December 31 about the existence of the virus especially at an animal market in Wuhan.

Another global company, Dataminr, which specializes in real-time information discovery, had drawn the attention of the authorities to the link between the testimonies of Wuhan residents on social networks, images of disinfection of the city's fish market and a warning from the alerting doctor.

In diagnosis, several AI-based solutions have been developed, as is the case with Chinese giant Alibaba allowing the virus to be diagnosed in seconds with 96% accuracy

China for its part has developed and used a technology called Health Code that uses big data to automatically generate a barcode on the smartphone accessible via the Alipay and Wechat applications based on the movements and history of its user in contamination outbreaks. This QR code with red, yellow and green colors indicates the level of risk of contamination of the person and the appropriate recommendations to follow.

Connected headsets, facial recognition and also temperature detection software to detect people with fever-like temperatures are also being used to limit the spread of the virus.

Bots to the rescue

based on the fact that robots are not susceptible to the virus, their use to perform certain tasks was quickly considered by several companies to reduce human-to-human contact. In the US, more and more hotels are using robots to clean their rooms and common areas. And just about everywhere around the world robots are installed in the entrance of supermarkets in order not only to remind people to disinfect their hands while offering them cash but also for taking the temperature of customers and staff, fever being one of the main symptoms of Covid-19.

Also used in sterilization, food and drug delivery, other more powerful robots such as the UVD and LightStrike are touted as robots that use ultraviolet light to autonomously kill bacteria, viruses and molds, even microscopic ones that might have survived manual cleaning.

The power of social networks

During the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to the Internet in general and the use of video conferencing software in particular has seen a gain in importance. The medical community is equally affected by this situation as physicians are increasingly using telemedicine for consultations to limit human-to-human contact to protect professionals and patients from contagion and the need to use medical time more efficiently.

Also, teleconsultation has allowed to monitor patients at home and track temperature, respiratory status and see them through the camera. And also, Telemedicine calls invoking the main symptoms of coronavirus allowed medical staff and authorities to anticipate new outbreaks by triaging by area of origin.

Aside from the fact that social networks are high-dissemination channels for "fake news," their usefulness and strength in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic is of paramount importance. Considerable efforts have been made by companies like Facebook, which has changed its algorithm highlighting sites deemed more trustworthy.

According to an internal report cited by Le Figaro, traffic from Facebook for sites such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and NBC News was respectively multiplied by 180% for, by 120% for or by 160% compared to the same period in 2019.

WhatsApp which announced the limitation of message transfer to only 1 the number of recipients per sending against 5 in force before this decision. Par cette mesure, la société souhaite décourager les utilisateurs dans le partage des messages, pour beaucoup assimilables à des fakes news.

Parallèlement, voulant utiliser cette force (les réseaux sociaux) pour fournir des informations et directives dans le cadre de la lutte contre la pandémie coronavirus, l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS) a lancé un service d’information via WhatsApp (chatbot via le lien https://cutt.ly/dtBvIJg) en plusieurs langues. Mi-Mars l’organisation avait déjà utilisé des plateformes comme Facebook et Twitter pour lancer un hackathon dans le but d’inciter la mise au point des soutions numériques pour lutter contre la pandémie.

Les Etats sont de plus en plus intéressés à l’utilisation des solutions numériques de traçabilité et de géolocalisation dans la lutte pour limiter la propagation du Coronavirus, mais pour certains les législations et le cadre règlementaire du secteur leur font obstacle. Des instances de défense de la vie privé et la protection des données personnelles se montrent aussi perplexe quant à une éventuelle manipulation de la population par des autorités politiques. Pour cela il faudrait limiter l’exploitation de ces données uniquement à des fins médicales dans le cadre de la lutte contre le Coronavirus et s’assurer du respect des normes établies par les autorités.

In Europe, several countries are considering a mandatory tracing device for all for decontainment. On this point, the European Commissioner for the internal market Thierry Breton is clear: ''no question of imposing the use of an application to the inhabitants of the euro zone,'' reports LCI. The use must be voluntary and the data must be used only by the health services. No access to police, judicial and commercial authorities, he recommends.

So from some less sophisticated technologies like the thermal camera to high-end solutions using big data and artificial intelligence, the digital revolution continues to remind us of the need to adapt our daily lives and align ourselves with the use of the technological tools available.

New technologies are undoubtedly a turning point for our society. Technological tools, from the simplest to the most sophisticated, are not only likely to reduce human effort but also to increase productivity while being the key to mobility and successful communication.

From this digital revolution, seen as the third industrial revolution, was born the new science called data science (data science).

This discipline is closely linked to the production of large amounts of data and their importance for companies. The collection, processing and exploitation of this data are so crucial that the automation of certain tasks is necessary.

From there, artificial intelligence (AI) is already playing a decisive role in the digital transformation of companies.

From the origin and techniques of AI

According to the classic definition of the Larousse, artificial intelligence is the set of theories and techniques implemented in order to realize machines capable of simulating intelligence. Either machines or programs capable of imitating different human aspects such as reasoning, thinking, analysis, learning etc.

Also, artificial intelligence has its origins related to the Turing test conducted in 1950 by British mathematician Alan Mathison Turing. The aim of this test was to establish if a computer behaves, or not, like a human being. This test consisted of an evaluator simultaneously entering into a discussion in human language with a machine and another human and at the end he manages to identify his machine interlocutor.

Progressively the evolution of artificial intelligence is made possible by three key factors which are a quantity of data (Big data in English); extraordinary computing power and revolutionary algorithms.

In addition, with its implementation in an evolving number of application areas, so-called artificial intelligence relies on three key technologies, namely machine learning; deep learning; and supervised learning.

In order automated learning is the ability of computers to learn without human intervention or software reprogramming while gradually improving the initially programmed functions; deep learning unlike machine learning algorithms, is based on an imitation of the human brain and supervised learning is a system that provides both input data and expected output results in order to establish a learning base for their further processing.

Some examples of AI usage

Chatbots : Contraction of the words "chat" designating a discussion, and "bot" designating a robot, this robotic software allow through artificial intelligence to manage a conversation (audio or text) in natural language. Chatbots are increasingly present for customer relations on websites or applications, let's mention Microsoft (with Cortana), Apple (with Siri) and Google (with Google Now).

Autonomous cars: Being able to drive themselves, these cars learn by themselves to understand the traffic system and can even anticipate the behavior of other vehicles.

This raw information is sent to the software installed on the car, which processes and analyzes it in real time for split-second decision making (detecting the sudden appearance of a pedestrian on the road and thus calculating whether it should swerve or brake).

AI and its impact on business

Over the years, more and more companies have embarked on using artificial intelligence. These include giants such as IBM, Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft. The attractiveness of AI in business has its roots in The exponential growth in processing power, combined with an unprecedented increase in available data.

It's deployment is not without consequences on companies' investments since it means increasing the IT budget (the acquisition of adequate hardware and systems are required); integration and maintenance and allocating more budget for user training.

According to analyst firm Tractica cited by Microsoft, the potential AI market is expected to reach $11.1 billion by 2024. If companies have to boost their capital budgets to jump on the AI bandwagon, it will not be without consequences for their production as AI has huge potential for growth and wealth due to increased productivity.

According to a 2016 study by Accenture, AI could contribute to a 40% increase in global productivity by 2035.

AI, between concerns and hopes

At the same time, if more and more people are worried about a possible decrease in the number of jobs in favor of the automation of tasks within companies, on the contrary according to a study by the specialized website Noodle.ai, 2 million new jobs could be created thanks to artificial intelligence by 2020.

The Swiss foundation World Economic Forum, meanwhile, has established an estimate of 58 million jobs that could be generated in connection with robotics and AI by 2022. Overall, the Swiss foundation is reassuring because according to its analysis, AI and robotics could indeed lead to the loss of 75 million jobs, but the number of new jobs that could be generated through their application and use is 133 million. However, the quality, format and area of expertise of these new jobs could undergo enormous changes.

So, professionals as well as businesses are now at an inescapable crossroads of digital evolution, or risk being overtaken by the competition, everyone will have to face and adapt to Artificial Intelligence.

No longer able to live without AI, let's try to live well "with"

Since its inception, Internet traffic has grown exponentially. Each phase - from the networked economy to the Internet of Things to Web 2.0 - has had a greater impact than the one before. The internet has changed the way we live, learn and play. The physical world is now - or almost - connected to the internet thanks to new technologies.

Known as Web 3.0 - the third evolution of the Internet - the Internet of Things (IoT) is the extension of the Internet, i.e. data exchange, to objects in the physical world. The general rule in the definition of the term "Internet of Things" is that everything that the Internet can recognize through well-defined Internet protocols. Thus, the IoT is based on four pillars aimed at making network connections more efficient and useful than before, namely people, processes, data and objects. This network creates a kind of bridge between the physical and the virtual world.

In reality, a connected object covers three essential and complementary elements. It is a physical object (car, watch...) with a sensor that allows it to collect data; a telecommunication network that allows it to transmit and/or share the collected information and a software or a platform that ensures the integration, processing and analysis of the data.

Whether it is household appliances (refrigerators, stereos, night lights...), sensors monitoring the sound level or sensors (a watch for example) monitoring vital constants, connected objects are responsible for an exponential increase in the volume of data generated on the network, at the origin of megadata (big data) which designates information with three main characteristics: volume, variety and speed. It is therefore a large amount of structured or unstructured data.

Also, connected objects rely on embedded chips and sensors that connect them to the Internet and give them new functionalities. They have the particularity of being able to communicate and exchange data with each other without the need for a human intermediary. This turns information into action, creating new possibilities, unprecedented economic opportunities for users, companies and countries, and richer experiences while lowering operating costs.

Let's see some practical cases of how connected objects work:

Case study 1- A vending machine runs out of 7Up, it sends an alert to the owner's smartphone which in turn notifies the distribution center.

Case study 2- Alex comes home from work and is very stressed. His connected watch provides his heart rate information to the radio, which plays soft music, and to his phone, which switches to silent mode.

Case in point 3- your refrigerator that sends an alert to your smartphone to warn you that you are missing eggs, cheese and juice and that you should pick some up since you are a few meters from the supermarket.

Soon every device you own - and virtually every object in existence - will be connected to the Internet. The IoT can drive economic growth and improve the quality of life for people everywhere by leveraging these connected objects and the data they generate, while integrating new processes that enable people to make better decisions and provide better services: better management of energy, water, transportation, security and more.

We can also note that the IoT offers enormous potential in its industrial dimension with robotics, digital controls, remote control, etc. The potential of cyber-physical systems to improve productivity and efficiency in the production process is immense.

Moreover, the market for connected objects is ready to explode because all the technological and economic conditions are now in place. It should be noted that sensor technologies are now optimal, bandwidth is growing and software processing capacity has never been so powerful. Knowing that for the year 2019, 85% of companies will implement or plan to implement IoT solutions. According to IoT Analytics, at the end of 2018 more than 7 billion connected objects were already in circulation worldwide (as many as the world's population in the same year), apart from computers, smartphones, tablets that are initially connected to networks as soon as they are built. This represents a market opportunity of $151 billion. The deployment of the Internet of Things is accelerating with the prospect of 21.5 billion connected objects in 2025, based on the firm's projections. This development is expected to provide suppliers of components, equipment, software and services in the Internet of Things value chain with a $1,567 billion market opportunity. Including digital devices such as smartphones, computers and tablets, the number of objects connected to the Internet is expected to reach 34.2 billion by 2025.

Jump on the IoT train and hang on!

Les nouvelles technologies représentent incontestablement un point de mutation pour notre société. L’avènement des TIC permet au mieux de s’instruire, de s’informer, de se divertir, ou de communiquer sans se soucier de la notion de distance.

Avec le passage de la société industrielle à la société de l’information, nous assistons à la transformation radicale du comportement des hommes que ce soit dans les milieux : professionnel, familial et dans les relations sociales engénéral. Au vu de ces remarques beaucoup de questionnements alimentent les réflexions :
-Quels sont les risques et les dangers des TIC sur nos rapports sociaux ?
-Quels avantages et bénéfices pouvons-nous tirer dans ces domaines ?
-Quels sont les enjeux des nouvelles technologies ?

Le thème retenu par l’Union Internationale des Télécommunications (UIT) pour commémorer la Journée mondiale des télécommunications et de la société de l'information, célébrée le 17 mai de chaque année est : « L’entrepreneuriat dans le secteur des TIC au service du progrès social » conformément à la Résolution 68, telle qu'adoptée par le Conseil à sa session de 2015. L’UIT, à travers le choix du thème de cette année, voit en cette raison et en cette tendance l’occasion de sensibiliser les décideurs sur l’importance de l‘entreprenariat social dans le secteur des TIC et des télécoms. Car elles prennent énormément de part dans l’économie mondiale, et leur place se voit de plus en plus croissante

Social entrepreneurship is said to be a way of doing business through which the interest of the community is seen as the preferred aspect of economic efficiency. The leaders of companies operating in "social entrepreneurship" do not consider financial profitability as an end in itself, but rather as a means to social progress. As a result, the entrepreneurial principles of business creation and management used, added to the classic tools of project management, become factors of the social improvement targeted. If, on the other hand, the classic entrepreneur measures his performance in the maximization of the cash flow released and, at the same time, the increase of his profit, the social entrepreneur puts and emphasis on the social benefits of his project.

Considering the share of new technologies in the global economy, the world's decision-makers are called upon to favor a strategy involving ICT. Thus, in 2011 social entrepreneurship was seen as one of the axes of the European Union's policy for economic growth and social progress.

Some 60 social entrepreneur networks, including those operating in ICT, were counted worldwide in 2015. This clearly demonstrates the scale of the phenomenon and its gradual rise in power around the world since the 1980s.

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, recognized social entrepreneurship in India as a very important theme. The Ashoka organization, founded in 1980 and based in India, is today one of the leading networks of social entrepreneurs worldwide. In order to promote social innovation for development, it was created in 2011 in Africa, by the operator Orange, the "Social Entrepreneur Award" in order to reward, each year three projects with a strong societal impact and aiming to improve the living conditions of people on the African continent.

All in all, it is important to remember that the two main criteria for the success of a social enterprise in any field are the identification of the social need and the realization of the project study.

The social entrepreneur must know how to recognize the social need, associate the right social project to it and use entrepreneurial principles for a better realization of the social change set beforehand, contrary to the classic entrepreneur who often tends to neglect the principles of project management in favor of the search for sources of financing.