The digital signage space just emerged from a year that none of us could ever have anticipated. And while the temporary closure of stores, restaurants and other businesses put a great deal of pressure on our industry last year, we quickly learned how indispensable digital displays were to safely navigate the pandemic.

Digital signage became a vehicle for communicating critically important health and safety messages to patrons, employees and the public at-large. The ability to quickly update content remotely enabled organizations to keep pace with quickly evolving health regulations — a key factor for businesses to demonstrate compliance and remain open during some of the pandemic’s darkest days.

And even today, as case numbers begin to retreat and we start to see a glimmer of hope ahead in the distance, digital signage is playing a key role in the recovery effort. Case in point, I was talking with one of our partners over at Smart Digital Solutions about their efforts to support the mass-vaccination effort currently underway in New York City. They’re using BrightSign media players to power digital displays inside and outside Javits Center. The space — which usually hosts hundreds of events each year, is now singularly focused on mass-distribution of vaccines to the people of New York.

Hal Scharfman and his staff at Smart Digital deployed an impressive network of displays that provide useful wayfinding and informational content in eight languages, helping to direct auto and pedestrian traffic as people approach the building. Once inside, additional displays and a massive screen hanging in the main atrium prompt patients to have key documentation ready to expedite processing.

No doubt, these displays make it much easier for people to minimize their time indoors, and they increase the number of daily vaccines administered at the Javits Center.

For the past year, our industry has been so focused on economic viability and recovery. So in a way, it’s refreshing to see digital signage put to use to help usher along the human recovery we’re all so eager to achieve.