As much as the COVID-19 pandemic will be remembered for its chilling effect on business and economic activity, apparently it has had quite the opposite impact on industry's zest for digital transformation and Industry 4.0 technologies. Based on a survey of 900 C-level executives across industries, the consulting firm McKinsey concluded in October 2020 the COVID-19 crisis has brought about a years' worth of change in just a few months' time. Not only have companies "accelerated the digitalization of their customer and supply-chain interactions and of their internal operations by three to four years" as a result of the pandemic, McKinsey observed, "perhaps more surprising is the speedup in creating digital or digitally enhanced offerings. Across regions, the results suggest a seven-year increase, on average, in the rate at which companies are developing these products and services."
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