The relationship between science, technology and society during the Covid-19 pandemic
The case of Virtual Machines in Canada
Student names (alphabetical order): Amber Augustus, Kim Chheng Heng, Aida Kordi, Shangirna Rajaratnam, Andrew Tylkowski
Supervisor: Gita Ghiasi
Course: ENGR-392-2204-RR
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed some new constraints on society. Forcing the majority of people to remain home, society had to use new methods to function as efficiently as possible. One of these methods is the use of virtual machines. This technology is a software that allows the user to run a parallel system on their own hardware or through a network connection. Because people do not have access to their work computer or school laboratories, virtual machines allow them to simulate as if they were so they can continue to do their work or experiments. The main focus of this study is to analyse the technological development as well as the sociological impact of this technology on Canada from 2015 to 2020. Using this analysis, this study will examine the effects of this pandemic on the fields related to this technology on the Canadian society in terms of employment and wage, unemployment and economic impact due to COVID-19 per industry. To realize this analysis, the research was done on the keywords and publications related to virtual machines using the Elsevier database, the patents and the companies responsible for them using the WIPO and Mergent database and finally the socio-economic data using the Statistic Canada database. The study reveals that 3 of 4 industries related to virtual machines are majoritarily male and they gain on average 20% more. Even in the female dominant industry, their male counterparts still gain about 20% more. The study also demonstrates that the industries related to virtual machines are greatly affected by the pandemic especially the manufacturing industry laying off 50% of staff. The study demonstrates that this technology allows society to remain safe by having access to remote work thanks to this technology, however the manual labor force of Canada does not benefit from virtual machines.