In most cities in China, citizens and visitors must download Health Code -- an app that indicates COVID-19 status -- to access many public and private spaces and services. A green screen means the person is free to travel, yellow indicates required quarantine and red means a confirmed infection. In India, the Aarogya Setu app indicates which travelers are "safe" to use rail and air travel. The United Arab Emirates recently launched ALHOSN UAE, which also indicates via color if a person is okay, infected or need to be quarantined, but also has an option for "hasn't been tested." ALHOSN UAE is currently being used to grant access to air travel.

As part of its Hype Cycle for emerging technologies in 2020, Gartner has identified social distancing technologies, composable enterprise, AI-assisted design, differential privacy and biodegradable sensors as the five key emerging trends that will drive technology innovation over the next decade. "Emerging technologies are disruptive by nature, but the competitive advantage they provide is not yet well known or proven in the market. Most will take more than five years, and some more than 10 years, to reach the Plateau of Productivity. But some technologies on the Hype Cycle will mature in the near term and technology innovation leaders must understand the opportunities for these technologies, particularly those with transformational or high impact," said Brian Burke, research vice president at Gartner. For example, Gartner points to health passports and social distancing technologies, both related to the COVID-19 pandemic, that are taking the fast track through the Hype Cycle and having a high impact.

Social distancing technologies, composable enterprise, AI-assisted design, differential privacy and biodegradable sensors are among key technologies that will drive technology innovation for the next decade, said leading research and advisory company Gartner in a new report. The 30 must-watch technologies on the Gartner report "Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2020" include technologies that enable a composable enterprise, aspire to regain society's trust in technology, and alter the state of your brain. "Emerging technologies are disruptive by nature, but the competitive advantage they provide is not yet well known or proven in the market. Most will take more than five years, and some more than 10 years, to reach the Plateau of Productivity. But some technologies on the Hype Cycle will mature in the near term and technology innovation leaders must understand the opportunities for these technologies, particularly those with transformational or high impact," said Brian Burke, research vice president at Gartner.

In most cities in China, citizens and visitors must download Health Code -- an app that indicates COVID-19 status -- to access many public and private spaces and services. A green screen means the person is free to travel, yellow indicates required quarantine and red means a confirmed infection. In India, the Aarogya Setu app indicates which travelers are "safe" to use rail and air travel. The United Arab Emirates recently launched ALHOSN UAE, which also indicates via color if a person is okay, infected or need to be quarantined, but also has an option for "hasn't been tested." ALHOSN UAE is currently being used to grant access to air travel.

Health passports are mobile apps that indicate the relative level of infection risk a person is and whether they can gain access to buildings, supermarkets, restaurants, public spaces and transportation. Early adopters in China and India are proving the combination of health passports and screening methodologies that are effective in stopping the spread of Covid-19 while also giving people the freedom to use public spaces and transportation. China's Health Code is widely used as a screening tool to minimize the risk of Covid-19 transmission. It provides the user with a color QR code based on their designated health status: Red is confirmed infected with Covid-19; Yellow should be in quarantine and Green is free to travel. Health Code checks are very common, making it difficult to move without having a green code.

Health Passports are shifting digital twin tech to humans and the composable enterprise is making it possible for business to stay nimble during the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 influenced many of the 30 technologies in Gartner's 25th Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies report. Brian Burke, research vice president at Gartner, said that this was the first time in the history of the report that a new piece of technology reached 20% market penetration in less than a year. China and India are using Health Passport mobile apps to indicate the level of infection risk of the holder. Red is a confirmed case o f COVID-19; yellow means the person should be in quarantine; and green means free to travel.

Online dating giants are set to offer digital health passports to millions of UK singletons to prove they are free of coronavirus. Manchester-based cyber firm VST Enterprises (VSTE), is pioneering technology which it says can be used to safeguard daters when coronavirus restrictions are eased. The company says it has been approached for its digital health passports by several leading dating app companies. Tinder and Grindr are believed to be two of the dating apps that are waiting to launch them. The technology, called'VCode', would enable a doctor or nurse to upload the results of a government-approved Covid-19 test to the digital health passport.