[London, 01 Jan 2021]

While the pandemic still rages and here in the UK some 53,000 new cases were recorded in a single day, yesterday, it’s worth taking a few moments to celebrate.

A few days ago, the UK was the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Today, a second and home developed vaccine from Oxford-AstraZeneca has already been approved by the MHRA. Other vaccines are on their way.

Through ground-up mobilisation, open collaboration and joint investment of government, industry and academia, and the digitalisation of research, the world has achieved in months, what would usually take many years. It is a breathtaking example of what humankind can achieve when corralled to fight a common cause.

New paradigms in vaccinology directly resulting from this effort will help to protect us better from as yet unknown, future zoonotic viral threats and they should strengthen the standing of collaborative actors such as the Global Virome Project (GVP).

Let’s hope that such rapid innovation, brave investment and societal determination could next be harnessed to more effectively tackle our other global threats, from climate change to systemic poverty.

So while I very much feel the pain and misery of those impacted by the pandemic and mourn the loss of so many valuable lives, I stick to the same optimistic belief that I shared in an article last April, that this tiny virus may help guide us towards a new, better ‘normal’ and a digitally-enriched, safer future.

Here is to a healthier and wiser New Year 2021!

Dr Piotr Ney is an energetic promoter of innovation, digital transformation, customer and operational excellence, and sustainability, with some thirty five years of change leadership, consultancy and senior executive experience. He has an MBA in International Business and a PhD in Economics and Management, lectures part-time in Innovation Management and Disruptive Strategy and is a popular speaker at global business events. Piotr works in London and internationally as an independent consultant and educator.

Copyright © 2021 by Piotr Ney. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be published, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the author.