Digital Pandemic: Covid-19: How Tech Went from Bad to Good

  • 3h 35m 3s
  • Michael Bociurkiw
  • Blackstone Audio, Inc. dba Blackstone Publishing
  • 2021

In early 2020 on a writing sabbatical, Michael Bociurkiw was on Spain’s frontier with Gibraltar when his phone started receiving texts from Asia about a mysterious disease sickening hundreds of people in China’s Hubei province. Little did he know at the time that it would quickly morph into the deadliest pandemic in modern history. His early reporting and commentary on what would become known as the coronavirus pandemic has now been collated into the first postmortem on the crisis. What follows is a bold global analysis from someone with a truly unique international perspective - and from an experienced hand who’s been on the story from the start.

Digital Pandemic chronicles how many technological trends - from working from home and tele-health to distance learning and e-commerce - have been catapulted ahead by at least a decade due to the pandemic. Who got rich and who didn’t. How strongmen and authoritarian governments leveraged the pandemic in their favor. Will influencers and digital nomads survive a not-so-familiar “new normal”? Crucially, the book offers more than two dozen predictions to paint a picture of the “new normal”.

It may be premature to forecast when and how the COVID-19 pandemic will end, but for now, this book is required listening for anyone wishing to understand the lasting impact - both good and bad - on humanity.

About the Author

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW is a writer, global affairs analyst, two-time TEDx speaker and author of the recently-released book, Digital Pandemic.

His career rests on the two professional pillars of humanitarian work and journalism. For well over a decade he has served in staff and consultancy positions for the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - most notably as global spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as its media chief in East Jerusalem and as an emergency chief in key disasters. His posts and assignments for emergency and programmatic missions have included: East Jerusalem, Pakistan, Nigeria, Burundi, Egypt, Myanmar, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Lesotho, Sudan, South Sudan, Turkey, Ukraine, Geneva and the Maldives. He has also served one year missions with the US Fund for UNICEF in New York City and for UNICEF Canada in Toronto.

From 2014 to 2016 he served as the spokesperson for the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, which including handling media for the MH17 plane crash in eastern Ukraine. The World Health Organization and its Pan American Health Organization have employed Michael in various missions - including at the PAHO headquarters in Washington, DC.

His geopolitical commentary is regularly featured on CNN Opinion. Having worked on the frontlines of humanitarian emergencies, he’s become a familiar voice on BBC World Television, CNN, CNN International, Al Jazeera, and Bloomberg Television. His writing has appeared in several media outlets, including: The Los Angeles Times, Forbes, the South China Morning Post, Asia Times, the Globe and Mail and on MSNBC.com. Michael speaks frequently on humanitarian issues, including at the Overseas Development Institute in London and, most recently, for World Humanitarian Day in Houston. As a commentator and writer he has covered the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh and the Indochinese refugee crisis in Southeast Asia.

Michael is the founder and co-host of the popular podcast/vodcast, Global Impact, which maintains a strong focus on humanitarian and critical public health crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this Audiobook

  • Chapter 1 - The Big Read
  • Chapter 2 - Wearable Tech: From the Catwalk to Inside Your Head
  • Chapter 3 - Singapore Slings Covid
  • Chapter 4 - China’s Chornobyl Moment
  • Chapter 5 - Covid-19 Crushes Diplomacy - Just When We Needed it Most
  • Chapter 6 - Covid-19, Digital Divides, Selfies and Influencers
  • Chapter 7 - Broken News
  • Epilogue