So we all have seen the space industry getting a boost with missile defense programs, we have seen the defense industry soaring high after the first Gulf war, and recently after 9/11 we have seen the intelligence industry getting a shot in the arm while the insurance industry running for "cover". So it seems quite straightforward corollary that certain events will cause a sudden boost/bust in certain economic sectors.

It would be interesting to see how information management technologies get affected by disasters. As mentioned earlier, the perceived threat of terrorism has spawned a number of companies which are trying to extract intelligent warnings from, or monitor the flood of information that is there on the Internet and elsewhere. So if you are watching the news carefully, then you would have noticed that recently the US and UK governments pulled out its embassies from Saudi Arabia because they intercepted messages from chatrooms, where by using Internet chatrooms, terrorists were believed to be planning further attacks.

But what about a completely different type of disaster: the SARS epidemic, how will it affect the information processing and management technologies?

And of course, the first immediate positive impact of SARS has been on the companies who manufacture masks (especially masks with antimicrobial compounds) or other pharmaceuticals and medical products, such as thermometers, antimicrobial wipes and bed robes.

But there was some "remotely" related impact on information management industry. All the companies in phone and video conferencing business are reporting a boom in their business, similarly software and service provider for web-conferencing too are seeing their profits grow. This seems very natural that anything that helps reduce the risk of spreading the epidemic will be welcomed by panic ridden-populace and businesses.

In this grim scenario the most interesting piece that did not catch the eye of many was the following news from Education Week:

Online Learning Fills Void in Nations Coping With SARS

The article refers to a little known company called Blackboard Inc which is providing virtual-educations solutions to a "rich" school in China. It is important to note that very few schools could afford such costly way of fighting the SARS epidemic, despite the Chinese government's attempt to come with their own online school initiative (China's education officials launch 'classroom on line' to help students cope with lessons)

So inadvertently, the SARS epidemic will end up giving a much required boost to the online education or virtual education e-learning solutions providers.