Countries around the world are racing to fill the unprecedented shortage of ventilators instigated by skyrocketing numbers of coronavirus cases. Caught off guard, many countries are turning to tech companies for speedy production as time races against lives.

In the UK, the government has turned to Dyson and Gtech as all options for quick response to the distress call have been exhausted. The two companies build vacuums and other motor-related airflow gadgets, and are banking on their experience to build ventilator hardware.

Dyson has gone to work in partnership with The Technology partnership (TTP) to deliver safe ventilators according to the approval of UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The ultimate goal is to build a ventilator hardware that will be approved for hospitals around the world. Named CoVent, Dyson said he can’t wait to produce enough as the technology required for the production is already in place.

“I am proud of what Dyson engineers and our partners at TTP have achieved. I am eager to see this new device in production and in hospitals as soon as possible. This is clearly a time of grave international crisis, I will therefore donate 5,000 units to the international effort, 1,000 of which will go to the United Kingdom,” he said.

Gtech, another home appliance and vacuum maker has also been approached to build up 30,000 ventilators according to the company’s owner Nick Grey.

In the United States, the government is turning to automakers for help. On Friday, president Trump said he was invoking the Defense production Act to make General Motors (GM) accept federal contracts to produce ventilators.

The U.S. has been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, creating an emergency crisis in the health sector that requires drastic measures. The country has recorded a high number of deaths and the federal government is afraid that the toll could reach 100,000 in coming weeks. One of the factors yielding increase in the death of the patients is insufficient ventilators at the hospitals.

New York is the most affected state in America and Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state needs “astronomical number of ventilators” to care for the number of patients in the hospitals.

The United States has about 160,000 ventilators, and going by the rising number of confirmed cases, much more ventilators will be needed. The John Hopkins Center for Health security put the number at 740,000.

Five automakers in the U.S. GM, Ford, Toyota and Tesla have pledged to help. They said they will be teaming up with existing ventilator makers to pace the production up.

Italy and Spain and France are other countries in dire need of ventilators as the virus throws their health systems off balance. With over 13,155 deaths in Italy, 9,0353 in Spain and 3,523 in France, health facilities are crying out for help to reduce the number of fatalities climbing daily as a result of the overwhelming number of infected persons who need ventilators.

In Nigeria, the indigenous automaker, Innoson Motors has pledged to produce ventilators as cases keep rising daily. Nigeria is said to have about 400 ventilators which are quite insignificant for a country of 200 million people. It would aggravate its already bad situation if the push comes to shove. Though health authorities said that none of the 151 cases recorded so far in Nigeria has needed ventilators.

But making ventilators is not as easy as building a new model of a car; it requires more expertise and circumspection. The CEO of Hamilton Medical, a ventilator making company, Bob Hamilton said there is more to it than the government knows.

“It is not a question of throwing enough money and people at the issue,” he said.

It is believed that the required expertise in building ventilators is exclusive to those in the medical field and may require their supervision; if at all the automakers will try to get it right.

Ventilators come in different sizes, shapes and capacity, some being more complex than others. And so is the cost and function. The most critical coronavirus patient (stiffen lungs) may require a high spec ventilator that costs about $50,000, and a patient whose case is less serious may not need such a high-end machine.

So each of the machines is tailored to a particular need of a patient and requires a highly trained professional to operate it.

That makes the production difficult and the business is better left to traditional ventilator producers. Vafa Jamali, vice president at Medtronic said the production of ventilators is too complex for so many companies to get into its mass production.

“Because this is a lifesaving device, it can be off. Practice and experience making the parts is really, really critical,” he said. It means that experts, epidemiologists who are well versed in pandemics should be allowed to produce ventilators. The Industry veterans know their fields better than car manufacturers. The fear is that mass produced ventilators by automakers may end up killing more people than the disease it is designed to fight.

According to CNBC, Trump said he expects Saudi Arabia and Russia to announce 10 million barrel cut.

It is estimated that possible cuts to oil production will stabilize the crumbling oil market. Until then, prices will continue to tank and the seas will remain burdened with cargoes of unsold crude oil from Nigeria and other oil-producing nations.

COVID-19: Confirmed global cases heading to 1 million, Spain death toll passes 10,000, US approaching 6,000 deaths, Italy reports 760 new deaths; taking total to 13,915, but a slower growth rate in infections.

Dangote Cement led the gainers’ chart to pull the All Share-Index (ASI) up by 0.10% and abate the year-to-date loss of the market to -21.31%. See the image below for a complete snapshot of market performance.

Market Breadth: The breadth of the market was weak today as the bears overwhelmed the bulls with 19 declining stocks as against 7 rising stocks. The gain in ASI was heavily supported by the gain of DANGCEM. See the list of top gainers or losers below:

Market Turnover: Turnover appreciated by 65.38% in volume and 62.07% in value. See top 10 traded stocks below:

Have a great evening.

There is a force that is so powerful that you must pay attention to. This force can be naturally induced or humanly induced. The effect is always the same regardless of the way it is induced.

The force is called change. The force of change can do two things; it can disrupt a system and it can innovate a system. That is why change is constant, this is the secret of human civilization and developments. Human societies and technologies have evolved over time.

While entrepreneurs are the major agents of change in the business world, nature is another agent of change. You see how Airbnb and Uber models disrupted the hospitality and the transport industries respectively. But today, Coronavirus is trying to disrupt these business models.

So, in this article, we shall learn how Coronavirus is disrupting ride hailing business models and what they should do to remain in business or what to do to pivot the models.

 The Coronavirus Effects on the Model.

 The ride-hailing business model which is also known as Uberisation is one of the epic business model innovations of the 21st century. We shall look at the components of a typical ride hailing business like Uber, Taxify (Bolt), Lyft etc and see how the pandemic has affected them. 

• The Supply Side of the Model:

The supply side of the ride-hailing model is made up of the drivers and the cars. The drivers provide the cars and use the car to deliver service to the riders.

 But, in this period of social distancing how do you think the driver is safe from the infections. What if the drivers have come in contacts with people with the virus? The driver could be an agent for spreading the virus.

 There is panic on the supply side. The drivers will be afraid as life is better than death.

• The Demand Side of the Model:

The demand side of the model consists of the riders or the passengers. They are the end users in the model. This period of viral spread of this virus, the riders or passengers may be a victim of this virus.

 The rider will suspect the passenger and the passenger will suspect the driver. Because, everyone is a suspect and a threat in times like this.

There is also panic on the demand side. What a great problem for Uber, Bolt and Lyft? 

• The Digital Mobile Technology:

The business model runs on a digital technology of mobile application. It has an algorithm that is programmed to match the drivers and the passengers. So, the mobile application may be less useful during this period. Currently, in some cities there is total and partial lockdown and economic activities are reduced to the barest minimum.

 These effects mean decline in business of the industry. Decrease in passenger confidence on the services. This will translate to decrease in revenue of the businesses.

 Now that the problem is clear, what we need is how to solve these unique problems. Here are my proposed solutions; 

Solutions to the Coronavirus Effects to the Ride Hailing Model.

 When we change the way we look at things then the things we look at change. So, let’s look at the business model from solution angles.

• Covid-19 Health Measure Compliant:

For the businesses in the ride hailing industry to continue in business, they should ensure that the drivers and the passenger comply with the safety measures in order to contain the diseases. This is the short term solution to this problem. Many businesses outside the ride-hailing model are using this general solution to remain in business at this time.

• Owing Personal Car.

According to a discussion on Prof Nduibisi Ekekwe’s Linkedin page, he said it has made it very crucial to have a personal car. This is important because no Uber or Bolt driver will want to take a sick person to the hospital in this period. For instance, if your loved ones are sick this period, it will be hard to call Uber or lyft to rush them to the nearest medical facility but with your personal car you have an alternative and a reliable solution.

 So, having personal cars is an alternative solution and insurance against evil days.

• Selfless Driving Solution:

Though the future of cars is selfless driving or autonomous driving but that future has become needed in the present.

With a self driving car solution there will not be contact between the drivers and the riders as there will not be drivers in the car. That means, the car would be sanitized to eliminate panics on the side of the riders or passengers. With this innovation in the ride hailing business model, the business will thrive in this kind of time.

So, when a change impacts a business model, the two things you do is you either pivot or you become obsolete and be out of business forever. With these solutions, you have alternative insurance and the ride hailing businesses will pivot to remain in business.