Baidu, Shenzhen Expressway to pursue smart transportation

Zhongguancun-based internet giant Baidu Inc reached a partnership agreement with toll-operator Shenzhen Expressway Co on April 26.

The two sides will merge together their core technologies and industrial resources to launch and expand joint projects around China.

On the basis of the agreement, Shenzhen Expressway will help Baidu to carry out its AI-City Program, especially in public transportation and environmental protection.

Baidu will offer its know-how in artificial intelligence (AI), big data and cloud computing to design the overall framework of an intelligent transportation system with primary standards.

In addition, Baidu and Shenzhen Express will also work on smarter environment protection by exploring innovative methods to reform waste disposal, basin planning and environmental governance.

"Resorting to Baidu's unmatched advantages in AI, big data and internet technologies, we will set up a smart laboratory and a cloud database to digitalize expressway construction and environmental protection," said a director of Shenzhen Expressway.

Established in 1996, Shenzhen Expressway has accumulated a long-standing expertise in the investment, construction and management of highway transportation. By 2016, the company had completed 16 large-scale expressway projects with a mileage of nearly 413 kilometers.

Baidu will incorporate more domestic and global forces in the future to unfold its AI-oriented development strategy.