Time was when entering the virtual world required the donning of a special helmet and enduring a disorienting experience in shaky 3D. But more than a year since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020, the virtual world has come to mean much more.
Initially, it seemed the pandemic would be a temporary disruption, followed by a return to business as usual. But it soon became apparent that longer-term plans were required. Just over a month after the WHO declaration, Swift announced that its annual community conference Sibos (which was due to be held in Boston in October 2020) would be switched to a virtual event.
