It is known that discrete events causing extreme societal and economic pressures as well as technological opportunity are major driving factors of innovation. Due to the presence of both of these factors during the COVID-19 pandemic it was hypothesized that there would be significant on-going innovation throughout society during the pandemic, with many of the innovations having the ability to have long-term societal impact. Analysis of literature and patent databases determined sectors of accelerated innovation to include manufacturing, personal protective equipment and digital technologies. The ability of flexible and advanced manufacturing technologies to provide more adaptable production capabilities that are less susceptible to disruption, make it likely that these technologies will be incorporated further, changing the way many manufacturing firms operate. Collaboration has increased, demonstrating increases in problem-solving efficiency; however, concerns around intellectual property is likely to reduce the long-term impact of these procedural changes. Advancements in personal protective equipment and disinfection technologies may have the long-term impact of reducing waste production and triggering changes in cleaning protocols throughout society. Digital technologies such as telemedicine, data collection, artificial intelligence and communication technologies were found to have undergone significant innovation, with possible impacts such as large-scale systemic shifts, and changes in how governments, corporations, the scientific community and the public interact.

众所周知，造成极端社会和经济压力以及技术机遇的离散事件是创新的主要驱动因素。由于这两个因素在 COVID-19 大流行期间同时存在，因此推测整个社会在大流行期间将会出现重大的持续创新，其中许多创新有能力产生长期的社会影响。对文献和专利数据库的分析确定了加速创新的领域，包括制造业、个人防护设备和数字技术。灵活和先进的制造技术能够提供适应性更强且不易受到干扰的生产能力，这使得这些技术有可能被进一步整合，从而改变许多制造企业的运营方式。协作增加，表明解决问题的效率提高；然而，对知识产权的担忧可能会减少这些程序变化的长期影响。个人防护设备和消毒技术的进步可能会产生减少废物产生并引发全社会清洁方案变化的长期影响。研究发现，远程医疗、数据收集、人工智能和通信技术等数字技术经历了重大创新，可能产生大规模系统性转变以及政府、企业、科学界和公众互动方式的变化等影响。