Changes in Industry and Services Sectors in Poland during the Covid-19 Pandemic

In 2020, the World Health Organization announced the global COVID-19 pandemic, which was followed by unprecedented constraints on society and the economy. The restrictions imposed had an impact on the transformation in industry and services sectors. The pandemic, however, affected particular industry sections and types of services to a different degree. Overall, the industry sector is assumed to have been less affected by the crisis, because the government restrictions did not embrace industrial production for the most part. Services faced a different situation;some of them were not provided due to top-down decisions. Therefore, the vulnerability of industry and services to such a strong external impact varies. The article aims to identify the degree and trends in changes in industry and services sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic and to determine the regularities stemming from a different degree of vulnerability of both sectors to such a powerful external stimulus. The study examines changes occurring in different industries and types of services (by the Polish Classification of Economic Activity/NACE 2.0) by way of statistical indicator analysis and using Statistics Poland and Eurostat data. The conducted analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic influence on the industry and services sector leads to the conclusions that its impact on the industry sector was very time-limited-a sharp fall in gross value added in industry occurred mainly in the second quarter of 2020. The pandemic had a modest effect on industry employment, primarily as a result of anti-crisis shields and the will to maintain the potential of labour resources. In the services sector, accommodation and food services suffered the most. The significant falls were noted in the transport section as well as cultural, sports and personal services. Business services which were transferred to the Internet and were provided online ended up the most resilient. The ultimate winner of the pandemic is ICT services, especially electronic ones, which have replaced, wherever possible, traditional types of services.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on changes in the services sector in Poland

Epidemics of infectious diseases are not new in the history of mankind, but the state of the global COVID-19 pandemic announced in 2020 by the World Health Organization caused unprecedented limitations in the functioning of society and the economy. Under the influence of these restrictions, the services sector has also changed. However, the pandemic affected individual types of services to a different extent and scope, which means that the sensitivity of services to such a strong influence of an external factor varies. The aim of the article is to determine the changes in the services sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular changes in the dynamics of the creation of new service enterprises, the impact of the pandemic on the economic condition of the services sector enterprises, and their sensitivity to such a strong external stimulus. The study analyses the changes taking place in various types of service activities (according to the Polish Classification of Activities). The analysis of changes taking place in the services sector in Poland is carried out with the use of data published by the Central Statistical Office and Eurostat.

Gapeau: Enhancing the Sense of Distance to Others with a Head-Mounted Sensor

Human perception lacks the capabilities to accurately assess distance. The recent Covid-19 pandemic outbreak rendered this ability particularly important. Augmenting our sense of distance can help maintain safe separation from others when required. To explore how systems can help users maintain physical distance, we designed, implemented and evaluated Gapeau - a head-mounted system for augmenting the sense of distance. Our system uses proximity sensors and thermal sensing to detect and measure the distance to other people. We conducted a validation protocol, an experiment, in which we compared different feedback modalities, and an in-the-wild study to evaluate Gapeau's performance and suitability for use in social contexts. We found that our system enabled users to more accurately determine whether they were maintaining a safe distance from others. Vibration and auditory feedback were found most effective and usable. Gapeau was perceived as socially acceptable. Our work contributes insights for augmented sensing systems with social relevance. © 2022 ACM.