Unforeseeable events can radically alter the course of history. Sometimes referred to as black swan events after Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s best-selling book from 2007, occurrences like pandemics create disruptions that lead to changes in diverse areas of life, including politics, society, and the economy.

In his article on entrepreneur.com, Hamza Mudassir, Managing Director and Co-Founder at Platypodes.io, likens the COVID-19 crisis to other game-changing events in the past, citing examples from the Black Death in the 1300s to the rise of Ali Baba in the 2000s, and argues that this new crisis will end up fueling the next wave of innovation.

Hamza believes that we are witnessing the beginnings of a long-term digital disruption that will shape businesses for decades to come. To better understand the pandemic’s impact, Hamza describe it in terms of three dimensions: biology, psychology and the economy. As the world attempts to normalize these impacts, long-term trends should arise. The macro-innovations Hamza predicts as responses to the crisis include supply chains becoming more robust through integration of technology, mainstreaming of digital bureaucracies, and mental health support being provided at scale, digitally.