Our New Blog Series Exploring Tech In The Time Of COVID

from the techdirt-in-the-time-of-covid dept

It should be no secret at all that the world is a different place than it was just a few months ago, thanks to the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19. We've been doing our best to deal with these trying times, as I hope you are as well. One thing we've noticed over the last few months is the role of technology in these crazy times, leading myself to often wonder what this kind of crisis would have looked like if even only a decade ago. As we were seeing more and more stories highlighting the amazing ways in which technology has been a huge (sometimes literal) lifesaver, we thought it would be worth launching a new "edition" on our site, focused on the role technology has played during this pandemic.

We're not even entirely sure what sorts of stories we'll see in this section, but the intersection of the pandemic and the technology world is something that is worth exploring. Some of the stories out there about tech and COVID may be more obvious than others (really, how many stories can there be about how much Zoom everyone is using?), but we're going to try to dig a bit deeper, and explore the perhaps more unexpected ways in which technology is playing a role in our everyday lives under lockdown, as well as how technology is changing how businesses operate, and (perhaps most importantly) the role of technology in response to the pandemic itself (mitigating, treating, and -- most hopefully -- curing the disease).

This, like so much of what we do, is an experiment and we're excited to see where it goes. The posts will appear right here on Techdirt, or you can check them out directly (as they are posted) in a new dedicated tab up top.

We're excited that the Charles Koch Institute has agreed to be our launch sponsor for this new section of the site. As its Executive Director, Derek Johnson said: "We are excited to continue our support of Techdirt, especially during this unique moment when we're likely to see significant creative destruction and experimentation with new business models in digital media. Innovation has been a force for good throughout human history, a trend especially evident today. Telling the story of how American individuals and institutions are leveraging digital tools during the coronavirus pandemic will reinforce that, as a society, we remain open to exploring creative applications of technology and ingenuity."

That perfectly sums up our general viewpoint on the importance of innovation in so many different aspects of our life -- and we expect it to be an educational journey to explore exactly how that innovative spirit plays out in helping get us through a massive pandemic.

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Filed Under: covid-19, innovation, technology


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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 20 May 2020 @ 2:52pm

    ...Well. That sure is...a sponsor.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 20 May 2020 @ 3:13pm

    Re:

    Yes, they are a sponsor, but knowing Mike I seriously doubt they will have any editorial input. I suspect that if they try, they will get dropped as a sponsor. Note also that it does not appear that anyone else stepped up.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), 20 May 2020 @ 3:42pm

    Re: Re:

    Yes, they have no editorial say, and that is explicit in the sponsorship agreement (indeed they wanted that to be clear in the agreement). Everyone on both sides knows that we agree with each other sometimes and we disagree with each other (sometimes forecefully) at others times, and we all agreed that this is fine.

    And, yes, we talked to many others about sponsoring it as well, and I'm still hopeful that others will join on (conversations continue...). But, they were the only ones willing to step up so far.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    Federico (profile), 20 May 2020 @ 11:19pm

    Koch brothers

    This is definitely the first time I hear of Koch money being used for good. Thanks for the transparency and keep up the good work.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    Papagnome (profile), 21 May 2020 @ 4:37pm

    Re: Koch brothers

    They support some of the programs on PBS. They don't seem to be that biased to the conservative side.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Mike, 15 Jun 2020 @ 9:48am

    Thank you for your transparency. I'm waiting for more!
    You are right, technology is very deeply embedded in our lives and sometimes we do not even understand how close this connection is. I think that in this difficult time, a lot of products help keep businesses afloat. This is from conventional technical solutions such as https://zoom.us/ which you mentioned, helping to keep in touch with employees up to different platforms. https://engre.co/ that help you find good B2B connections for business

    link to this | view in thread ]


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