Gabriela Horoșanu: COVID-19 pandemic – from disruption to innovation in diplomacy and medicine

COVID-19 pandemic – from disruption to innovation in diplomacy and medicine

Each crisis is a turning point, that asks for shifts in decision-making and for redefining priorities. Habitually, the amplitude of shifts is directly proportional to the uncertainty level brought by the disruptive factor that generated the crisis. The crisis we are currently witnessing, generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is often assessed not just as a trend accelerator but as a systemic shock, with a strong behavioral and financial impact, a global game-changer. This powerful disruptive societal effect stirs a much-needed reflection process for an adjustment of our manner to conduct ‘business-as-usual’ as a country, in a global ‘storm’ of innovation and adaptation processes to the ‘new normal’. One of the faults of the ‘business-as-usual’ approach was the inertia of bureaucratic structures to adapt to changes and challenges, by adopting innovative processes that allow for more efficiency and more pro-activity.

Defined by a common medical conundrum, every pandemic brings a unique opportunity for enhanced global cooperation. Hence, the relevance of a change in optics both in diplomacy and in medicine.

In the diplomatic spectrum, we are witnessing an effervescence of ideas in the multilateral environment, the vast majority leading to more digitalization, a quicker and safer exchange of information, enhanced public-private partnerships, measures to increase resilience, and the protection of critical infrastructures. All these come with a much-needed push for maintaining the international rules-based order, combined with confidence-building measures.

A specific challenge that Romania faced during the pandemic, like many other European countries, was the shortage of medical supplies, including PPEs, technical equipment, and testing kits. The problem was partially solved through small innovative initiatives and partially through international support. The key to both is solidarity and transparent communication. But this entails an honest recognition of gaps in resources, an aspect that our country is traditionally reluctant in expressing. Just asking for specific help, proved enough for allies and partners to swiftly offer support in solidarity, as we’ve also offered to other states in need. Therefore, continuously mapping the gaps and forecasting potential needs and shortfalls would be relevant for this crisis and the ones to come.

Furthermore, a solution to avoid similar crisis would be to develop a sustainable supply-chain, both at the national level, with production and storage facilities, and within NATO and the EU, by investing significantly and jointly in research and development, by facilitating more tech hubs and access to venture capitalists, and by developing public-private partnerships for innovation. From a digital perspective, innovation platforms could be the key, if coherently promoted by diplomatic tools. Disruptive technologies, such as AI, quantum computing, 5G communication, human augmentation/ biotechnologies could lead in this context to a more creative governance approach, including in diplomacy, by defining more flexible arrangements for coordinating technological developments of like-minded states. This is yet an incipient stage of mindset changes at the multilateral level, and a beneficial game for Romania if we could join early rather than late, with an appropriate amount of knowledge and less significant financial resources, compared to more traditional areas of industry. From a diplomatic perspective, the entry card could encompass a blend of experts in these innovative fields promoted in key multilateral positions and a concerted effort in developing partnerships for strategic multinational projects. What we still lack in this area is a pool of key innovative leaders, established professionals, and young talents in tech that could be accessed and promoted when the opportunity arises. A digital platform for innovation could partly solve this issue.

Moreover, a digitalised diplomacy could lead to a more efficient workflow and rapid response to crisis, through more flexible arrangements, including in circulating the requests to institutions and in managing the entire approval process. In the ‘Zoom’ era fuelled by the pandemic, when many institutional organisations adopted the videoconference model, tailored encrypted solutions for governmental devices with remote access for the governmental user could be key in more sensitive diplomatic environments but a more fluent communication on official e-mails accounts could be easily applied more broadly, for unclassified content. Nevertheless, diplomacy is still a conservative area, based on clear procedures and customs, and there is a generalised reluctancy to bring the negotiations ‘from the table to the screen’, also due to an increased cautiousness regarding malign activities in cyberspace and disinformation waves, all part of hybrid campaigns that know a pick of activity during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, the medical field, generally, and in particular the medical areas directly connected to the pandemic, such as infectious diseases, virology, epidemiology, and laboratory medicine were more exposed to innovation, digitalisation and a mindset change, due to their proximity to the subject and the need to share globally bits and pieces of knowledge. As it usually happens during a completely new pathogen agent breakthrough, coherent information is lacking for a couple of months and clear epidemiological data regarding immunity status cannot be obtained earlier than six months. The situation is pretty similar or worse when discussing targeted therapy, tests validity, reporting mechanisms, good clinical practices, protective measures, medical trials, and vaccine-development programs. Even though general population easily experiences and complains of confusion and confinement measures are not often popular, the only thing to do is to abide by official norms and trust the experts. From this perspective, many analysts consider this pandemic a failed experience from the medical science perspective, which would generate an increased lack of trust in medicine and related sciences. I would respectfully argue to the contrary, because, as a medical researcher, I’ve experienced more solidarity and desire to share knowledge and expertise in the medical field than ever before. The ‘Zoom’ trend (implying various cloud platforms for video communication) was extremely well applied in the medical area, through dedicated videoconferences that in ‘normal times’ would have implied timely and costly efforts and would have offered limited access. This was one of the best solutions identified during the crisis for good practices exchange and an extended reach-out to medical practitioners and researchers, including to young professionals. Moreover, in medical research, there is not just an outburst of studies and projects, but a higher transparency and an increased solidarity in sharing data for a common goal. This solidarity was extended through diplomatic channels, helping to bring more coherence to the measures, by exchanging national practices. 

In Romania, even though the crisis was well-managed compared to other European countries, there is still a lack of trust in the medical system and the medical act, due in part to a lack of education and the subsequent proclivity for unsubstantiated online information. Access to fact-based information and increased trust in the medical act is vital in the medical field, having in mind that a significant number of Romanian patients arrive at the hospitals with aggravated or terminal forms of their respective illnesses. Therefore, more online medical education materials on sanitation and infectious diseases transmission could prove beneficial not just for medical students or for the continuous medical education of medical professionals, including the general practitioners, but for health education at all levels. Lessons identified and good practices could furthermore be shared between like-minded states through the established traditional links but also through the ‘non-traditional’ online tools, building collaborative transnational platforms on the basis of the ‘pandemic’ expertise, with creative approaches, based on innovative techniques of data analysis.

As borders and doors were closed in the physical world during the COVID-19 pandemic, a broader digital world opened its gates wide and in solidarity between like-minded countries, driving forward innovation for an improved mindset in both diplomacy and medicine. Acquiring comprehensively this lesson could make the right alteration in response to future crisis.

Scurtă biografie: Gabriera Horoșanu activează în domeniul diplomației și al cercetării medicale. 

Acest articol face parte din proiectul “România post-pandemică și antidotul digital”, o inițiativă a Fundației C.A.E.S.A.R.

Opiniile, conținutul și originalitatea contribuției sunt atribuite exclusiv autorului și nu reprezintă în mod necesar poziția Fundației C.A.E.S.A.R. sau a partenerilor săi.

Articolele redactate sub egida acestui proiect pot fi republicate doar cu condiția indicării sursei originale (link/trimitere către articolul de pe site-ul Fundației C.A.E.S.A.R., însoțit de textul “Acest articol face parte din proiectul “România post-pandemică și antidotul digital”, o inițiativă a Fundației C.A.E.S.A.R.”). Vă rugăm să ne trimiteți și un mail pe adresa contact@fundatiacaesar.ro pentru a ne înștiința de preluarea articolului.