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ICT investment up as R&D drops during pandemic

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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45% of UK firms have decreased their research and development initiatives during the covid-19 pandemic, with even 18% of firms halting theirs altogether, according to new research from Durham University Business School.

However, 40% of firms have invested in their ICT, likely to be the result of firms having to facilitate working from home and remote engagement with customers, say the researchers.

Conducted by Richard Harris and John Moffat, Professors of Economics at Durham University Business School, the study seeks to understand the impact of the pandemic on UK firms’ research and development plans and whether or not companies had refocused their efforts in terms of investments.

The researchers interviewed over 4500 UK companies during the period between October and November 2020. Questions were centred around the firm size, industry, history of operations, before taking a more specific look at the companies’ previous research and development investment initiatives.

The results of the study suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic will have long-lasting negative effects on productivity and growth for firms, whilst increased ICT investment reflects the necessity for firms to become more digital.

Professor Richard Harris said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on the world economy, and in the UK specifically Bank of England figures suggest that it has led to the largest fall in GDP since 1709. While the short-run effects of the early stages of the pandemic are now well understood, less is known about its implications for growth in the medium to long-term.

“Our research findings clearly show that research and development spending dropped drastically during the covid-19 pandemic, which likely will have a negative impact on productivity and growth in the medium to longer term.”

The research reveals that the fall in intangibles investment is distributed unevenly across firms, with industry playing a major role in predicting the change in investment and internationally-oriented firms experiencing smaller declines in the early stages of the pandemic.

These research findings showcase the huge impact that covid-19 pandemic has had not only in the short-term, but in the long-term too for UK firms, with it likely that firms will have challenges related to productivity and growth in years to come due to the lack of R&D over the last year and a half.

STUDY: Covid-19 technologies must be regulated to stop ‘big brother’ society

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Technologies, such as track and trace apps, used to halt the spread of covid-19 have to be thoroughly examined and regulated before they are rolled out for wider adoption, to ensure they do not normalise a big-brother-like society post-covid-19.

That’s according to research conducted by Jeremy Aroles, Assistant Professor in Organisation Studies at Durham University Business School, alongside Aurélie Leclercq-Vandelannoitte, Professor of Management of Information Systems at IÉSEG School of Management, which draws from the concept of ‘societies of control’, developed by the French philosopher Giles Deleuze, in order to analyse the technologies currently being used to tackle the covid-19 pandemic.

Whilst the study acknowledges the public health benefits of these technologies, the researchers state we must be wary of what technology is rolled out by governments and critically cross-examine these.

Dr. Aroles said: “Presented as ways to curb the immediate progression of the pandemic and improve safety, the acceptance and use of these technologies has become the new “normal” for many of us, therefore it is important that these systems of control are heavily vetted and cross-examined before being rolled out to the wider public.”

The researchers suggest three solutions regarding the development and use of covid-19-related technologies.

First, the public should question the locus of collective responsibility. Increasingly complex systems of control and surveillance have been fuelled by our reliance on technology which, the researchers say, has blurred our understanding of the boundary between “good and bad” or “right and wrong”.

Second, more must be done to raise people’s awareness of how digital technologies work, and the risks of adopting them across society. People are often, rightly, concerned over their privacy and the sharing of their data. It is therefore crucial that these technologies are transparent and actively help individuals fully understand the ramifications of the control systems they’re opting in to.

Third, given that covid-19 tracking technologies are developed by companies for the benefit of governments, it is vital that greater regulation of the partnerships between state authorities and companies is adopted. Alongside this, it is also important that counter-powers such as journalists and the public hold these partnerships to account, to ensure they do not violate the privacy of citizens for financial gain.

The researchers state that it is important the covid-19 pandemic is not utilised as an opportunity to enforce a society of control and to normalise greater surveillance. They suggest that researchers or bodies specialising in the management of information systems should be brought in to supervise the developments of digitally enabled control systems, such as covid-19 apps, and not to abandon them to companies that could violate the privacy of citizens.