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# Article: “Innovating for the future: 5 ideas that could emerge post-COVID”

The job of a futurist, of course, is to predict the future!

![](/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/EconomistvsVFuturist-1024x576.jpg)

And since this ‘thing’ began, I’ve been working behind the scenes furiously, analyzing, thinking, pandering, researching, observing. Here’s a quick little hit of an article that covers just a few of my thoughts.

***Innovating for the future: 5 ideas that could emerge post-COVID***

***6.15.2020 | by Margaret Craig-Bourdin***

***CPA Canada***

[ [original article](https://www.cpacanada.ca/en/news/world/2020-06-16-post-covid-19-innovations) ]

Savvy entrepreneurs won’t wait around for things to return to normal. Instead, they’ll funnel their creativity into concepts that work for a changed reality.

As we know, COVID-19 has already led to some ingenious innovations in areas such as delivery. And there’s no reason to think the spark will fizzle out post-pandemic.

“*Savvy entrepreneurs know we need to adapt, and they’re funnelling their creativity into new ideas that will bypass COVID-related concerns*,” says FCPA Jim Carroll, a futurist and founder of J.A. Carroll Consulting.

Here are five ideas that Carroll thinks could emerge in the short to medium term. [For more on what our post-pandemic world might look like, see Welcome to the future: what a post-pandemic world could look like.]

1) EDUCATION À LA CARTE

Although Carroll considers education the most complex industry on the planet, he thinks a huge amount of innovation will be taking place in this space because the entire sector is being disrupted “in a massive way.” For example, rather than signing up for a whole university program, a student might buy a course when they need it. “*In other words, we might see high-quality education delivered on a just-in-time basis*,” he says.

2) PLAY TO LEARN

According to Carroll, we’re also likely to see the reintroduction of gaming concepts in education. “*If you are giving an online course to members of the gaming generation, you can introduce interactive elements to encourage students to participate*,” he says. “*As they engage with those elements, they will stay focused on the education being delivered to them.”*

3) FOOD AS A SERVICE

Carroll thinks some chefs will move beyond restaurants as we know them. Instead, they might take a low-cost industrial space and set up a fully fledged high-end kitchen there, combined with a delivery infrastructure. “*Some enterprising chefs are already developing that concept as we speak,*” says Carroll.

4) CONCIERGE SERVICE

Since online shopping (for groceries especially) can be very tedious, Carroll thinks we will see a lot of innovation to make the experience a little more palatable—literally. For example, he thinks we will see the emergence of what he calls a concierge service. “*This is an entire category of people who will do things on your behalf*,” he says. *“If you don’t feel comfortable doing your grocery shopping, these people will do it for you. If you don’t want to go into a store to browse, they will do that too. It will be a whole Uber-style type of service that is going to reinvent what it means to shop.*”

5) TURNKEY E-COMMERCE

As Carroll explains, he’s seen a lot of mom and pop shops wondering how to do online shopping. “*Large e-commerce companies are obviously already quite adept with e-commerce, but it can still be a challenge for smaller companies. So I think we’re going to see a lot of enterprising young people just saying to small businesses, ‘We’ll offer you a turnkey service*.’”