The Role of Knowledge-Based Technologies and Big Data Analytics in a Pandemic

Abstract

The covid-19 pandemic has caused major turmoil in economic, social, societal, and health systems around the world. In order to bring it under control, large amounts of relevant data have been identified and collected, the analysis of which should enable understanding of the character and mechanisms of the disease and, based on that knowledge, suppress pandemics and return life to normal as soon as possible. The volume of collected data is enormous, and the sources and types are very different, so classical analytical approaches are not suitable for their processing, while intelligent software solutions and tools for big data analysis play a vital role in discovering the knowledge needed to make decisions. Over the past two years, there has been a wider use of artificial intelligence and big data analytics in both e-commerce and online shopping. The need for social distancing, lockdowns, and work from home has resulted in the sudden shift of business to the digital sphere, especially trade. The processing of data that is continuously generated through online activities represents a huge opportunity for companies, but also a new challenge to find a way to turn data into useful information, insights, and knowledge that can be applied in practice. The paper describes modern information technologies that best suit the newly created conditions due to the pandemic. The solutions described in the literature are presented, which, in response to the new reality due to the covid-19 pandemic, were created using these technologies.