Challenges and prospects the global IT-industry in the situation of COVID-19 pandemic
The goal of this research analyze consists in the analysis of major challenges faced by the global IT-industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as additional prospects for strategic development that emerged in this sphere. The subject of this article global IT-industry and its development in the course of 2020. Based on examination of expert opinions and data of sociological surveys conducted by foreign specialists, the author determines the issues faced by IT-industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Special attention is given to the prospects for the development of IT-industry that opened as a resut of the coronavirus pandemic. The conclusion is made that the pandemic had severely disrupted the supply chains and manufacturing of high-tech products, as well as reduced or canceled multiple international events intended sharing experience between the IT specialists. The additional opportunities that opened for the market IT-solutions in the course of the pandemic include the increased demand for implementation of 5G technologies, virtual reality, and “smart city”. These technologies feature a prospect for the strategic development, which boosts investments in this field of IT-industry in the conditions of extended lockdown in many countries, as well as post-crisis period.