Hengqin firms get free access to massive databases

Governmental agencies and enterprises registered in Hengqin New Area now have free online access to large collections of worldwide data via the Zhuhai International Information Retrieval Center.

The center went live at Macao-Hengqin Youth Entrepreneurship Valley (Inno Valley HQ) on Sept 21. It is accessed through any internet terminal to retrieve and download files from nearly a thousand databases. These include Lockheed's Dialog, the world's leading online information retrieval system; STN, an online database service that provides global access to published research, journal literature, patents, structures, sequences, properties, and other data; and Wanfang Data, a leading information content and service provider in China. Journals, newspapers, laws and regulations, patents, standards, and other scientific and technological literature are at hand.

Available information relates to social, natural and applied sciences, political economy, intellectual property, technical standards, and business intelligence among other disciplines and fields.

This is one of the important functions provided by the Hengqin Public E-reading Room, explained an official with the Hengqin New Area Administrative Committee. 

Room with big data [File Photo]

Developers Inno Valley HQ and the Zhuhai Productivity Promotion Center issued free cards granting search authorization.

Enterprise representatives participating in the opening ceremony and taking registration certificates obtained cards on the spot, without filling in application forms.

The center is a smart use of Zhuhai's rich scientific and technological innovation resources to better serve, support, and guide sci-tech enterprises, said the official.

A company representative said that based on easy access to so much authoritative data, enterprises can conduct technological and developmental research more effectively, leading to greater confidence in the soundness of their decisions and precision of their business negotiations.