A McKinsey study indicated that 75% of people used digital channels for the first time during Covid-19: online shopping, digital health and televisions, online church services, Zoom and more. We have just witnessed one of the most massive changes ever seen in the human approach to technology.
Many of the trends that we expected to arise over the next 10 years have been compressed into a much, much faster period of time. Companies had to implement technological changes, and do it now. Simply because they needed it. Barriers to the implementation of some technologies have also disappeared out of sheer necessity. The alibis that held us back have been put aside.
The center of our future universe has moved a little further
Everywhere, people and organizations have learned something new about key concepts of our tomorrow: speed, simplicity, lightness (health would have a whole separate discussion).
The relationship with transport, cars as a service and no longer as a product. Compressed workspaces, virtualized or secured. Remote consultation, including health follow-ups. Delivery robot, for storage, for the sanitization of places. Digitization of transactions. Distance learning. There is no social or industrial matter that has not undergone technological changes.
Technological changes: public and private
Another thing that dramatically emerged after the first year of Covid-19 was the very strong need for transformation of services. Both social ones (public transport, healthcare, information and social security) and private, corporate ones.
In terms of public services, needless to underline the enormous efforts to align or transform public transport, health systems, registry services (with good performance for Italy, with the launch of a great app). Not to mention the universal minimum income work, cleared through customs and even chased by one European popular initiative.
In terms of private services, the huge change is of paradigm. Not only city e schools of the future designed with health first. In general, companies will no longer be "followed", but "followers": they will work to literally build comfortable user experiences for users. Any company knows that it is no longer competing with its competitor in the same sector. It is now competing with companies capable of INVADING every sector. Amazon, Netflix, Disney, Apple, Google, Facebook are adding services to services and are now preparing to attack the insurance, banking and food sectors.
This is why we end up with products that are no longer bought, only enjoyed. And possibly they recycle. And with services calibrated not only on the basis of a price, but of a benefit (even psychological) for the customer. From spazzolini, Abit, shoes, soaps by subscription to cars like the next Citroen Ami which is used as a streaming service (with almost similar costs).
CyclON, shoe for hire 
Forgo, Subscription Soaps 
Ami One, the concept from which Ami was born 
Rent the Runway, subscription clothing service
In short (Italian only)
Digital transformation, for starters, is no longer an option: it is survival. Electrification it's no longer an option. The race to renewable it's no longer an option. A microscopic virus could do more than the inefficiencies, more than climate change, more than the energy crisis. Our impulse to life, to technological and social changes and to the future is called Covid-19.
