Director - SRTMI, Ministry of Steel, Mukesh Kumar, on Tuesday said that COVID-19 has changed the day to day operations and working of business and has made it necessary for businesses to digitalize their processes.

Addressing a webinar on 'Life After Lockdown: Actions for Growth, Operational Efficiency & Business Agility' organized by FICCI, jointly with IBM, Dr Kumar said, "Digitalization can provide major opportunities to business.

E-systems will also help in avoiding accidents; however, for small scale organizations there is a need for handholding for adopting technology."

He said that we have entered into an era where data will be collected digitally and this data when interconnected, can be used effectively. Dr Kumar added that data monitoring systems will help in improving production and efficiency of businesses.

S K Roongta, Non-Executive Chairman, BALCO & Mentor, FICCI Non-Ferrous Metals Committee, said that change is inevitable and companies will have to adopt technology and think about new operating modes. In the current context, technology will play a significant role and it will have to be used for fighting the present scenario, which will be a big challenge for the business leaders, he added.

Roongta said that this webinar was well timed as it provided an effective platform to the stakeholders of manufacturing sector, especially pertaining to mineral and metals industry to deliberate upon the ways required to navigate through the new normal. The deliberations provided useful insights helpful in enhancing the agility and flexibility of operations, supply chains and deliveries.

Rajesh Parameswaran, Industrial Sector Leader, IBM Services; Mr Sanjay Ojha, Cognitive Process Transformation Leader, IBM Services; and Dr Ashutosh Misra, Strategic Consultant, Global Business Services, IBM, also shared their insights on technological solutions to manoeuvre business post lockdown.

The webinar focused on the impact of COVID-19 on business and how adoption of technology will be the new normal for businesses going forward. The challenges in the value chain and at the corporate front were also deliberated upon.