COVID will be remembered as a major turning point

 Ten years from now I think we will look back on COVID as our generation’s “Pearl Harbor moment” — a period when extreme adversity spurs innovation and behavioral changes to help address some of the era’s biggest problems. At the time of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. artillery was 75% horse drawn. Let me say that again: In 1941, three quarters of our artillery depended on horses. Yet by the end of the war we had entered the atomic age. That incredible transformation sparked a period of innovation and growth in the U.S. economy that lasted for decades. COVID could be the trigger that spurs us to tackle critical issues over the next decade, such as the cost of health care, education and housing. We’ve already seen the development of COVID vaccines at a speed few thought possible. And we’re doing things in our daily lives we never imagined would happen so quickly. In 2030 we may be living, working, studying and playing in a radically new world. Our lives could be better, richer, healthier, cheaper and profoundly more digital, virtual and data centric. Many of the technologies already exist, but I believe there’s still so much untapped potential for innovative companies to think bigger and apply them in ways that solve societal problems.