Information technology and evidence during the pandemic

Dear family and friends from the wound healing community, it is a pleasure and honour to bring you another great edition of the Silk Road supplement from the Journal of Wound Care, the official journal of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies (WUWHS).

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, most countries have started beefing up their vaccination drives and have even started giving booster doses. Life is, for some, in many ways almost returning to normal in this peri-pandemic time. However, what we have learnt from our experiences is how to best use information technology in terms of education and continued collaboration through webinars, virtual and hybrid conferences, virtual workshops and videos, all of which have taken the world by storm. The article by Queen¹ discusses behavioural changes, distant interaction and a new world. Behavioural changes in the pandemic includes contact tracing, which would be a great taboo during normal times. Distant interaction without the physical presence has governed our day-to-day life in the ‘new normal’, whereby meetings are held virtually and half the workforce of corporations work from home. Students too study virtually. The downside to this is the lack of human or physical interaction, especially in huge conferences, as we are not able to ascertain if the message has been delivered. Virtual exams are also required to have two cameras to see the student answering the questions without referencing the answers via relevant search engines. A new world concept involves us embracing this new era of information technology, which does have its benefits. It is cost-effective and people from all over the world can meet more often and discuss their research, best practice, develop consensus and other guidance documents. This will increase the participation of the various specialties involved in wound management. More countries and continents can be reached with the virtual platform.