Expo provides opportunities for global technological cooperation

Foreign experts and officials discussed the future of big data development in China and expressed their wish to cooperate at the 2017 China International Big Data Expo, held from May 25-28 in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province.

Representatives from more than 20 United Kingdom big data companies and research institutes conducted an in-depth discussion with their Chinese counterparts at the "UK Day: UK-China Big Data Collaboration 2017" on May 27. Chinese companies attending included the Sichuan branch of China Mobile and ZTE.

"It's my second time here and I'm happy to see so many great UK enterprises in Guiyang," said Andrew Cockburn, head of the trade and technology team at the UK's Department of International Trade.

Big data companies in the UK have achieved good results in several sectors, including smart cities, healthcare and finance. The UK is willing to boost cooperation with China in the big data sector to add value and reap benefits together, according to Cockburn.

For Jaya Skandamoorthy, president of BRE China, the collaboration opportunity lies in the green building sector.

"I think big data brings a huge opportunity to support green building, sustainable development and the urbanization of China," he said.

BRE China, a research-based organization offering expertise in many aspects of green building, was set up following the January 2011 visit by Premier Li Keqiang to BRE's headquarters in London, when he toured BRE's Innovation Park and invited the company to get involved in China's sustainable urbanization plan.

Jaya claimed that the green building sector is maturing in China and that part of taking the next step forward would be to use data in a different way.

At the expo, Dell Technologies announced its plan to deepen cooperation with Guiyang and said that it will bring research achievements in the artificial intelligence sector to the city.

Raymond Greene, United States consul general in Chengdu, Sichuan province, said Guiyang would become a center of cloud computing in China, adding that many famous US enterprises have opened branches in Guiyang.

In early 2016, Qualcomm invested 1.85 billion yuan ($269.85 million) to set up a joint venture with Guizhou province to conduct research and development of high-end server chips.

HP also opened centers focusing on modern agricultural big data trading and global business service in the Guiyang Comprehensive Free Trade Zone.

At the Sino-Israeli Big Data Innovation Cooperation Forum, Or Perelman, CEO and co-founder of ChromaWay, also expressed his wish to expand cooperation with big data companies in Guiyang and elsewhere in China.

"I think big data is all about the future because we are online 24/7. We are actively looking for partnerships in China and partners in Guiyang," said Perelman.

"Guiyang has been doing well with big data in finance and we want to see how we can cooperate in the future."

Corporate representatives from Israel's leading venture capital fund Pitango and Israeli technology transfer organization Ramot at Tel Aviv University also attended the conference.

Big data cooperation between enterprises in China and Israel is deepening as bilateral economic and trade exchanges get closer.

Both countries are exploring complementary cooperation in big data, internet innovation and blockchain technologies. An international coordinated development platform is expected to be built for enterprises and clients in China and Israel.

This year, the big data expo in Guiyang has been upgraded to a world-class big data-themed event, and has attracted dozens of companies from 22 countries, including the US, UK, Russia and India.

(China Daily 06/01/2017 page10)