China's digital program aids sustainable dev't of BRI countries

BEIJING -- China has boosted the sustainable development of countries within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) through a series of specially designed digital projects, according to the 7th Digital Belt and Road Conference.

The Digital Belt and Road Program (DBAR), initiated by Chinese scientists in 2016, has formed a number of widely recognized data products to address sustainable development challenges in eight fields: agriculture and food security; climate and environment; disaster risk; natural and cultural heritage; cities and infrastructure; water resources and water security; coastal zones and oceans; and mountains and polar cold regions.

Guo Huadong, chairman of the DBAR, said data support is an indispensable part of the monitoring, evaluation and research of the U.N. 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

"Based on the methods and technological innovation of Big Earth Data, DBAR has served the sustainable development of BRI countries through sharing data, technology and knowledge," Guo added.

"Going forward, the DBAR will continue to conduct research on scientific methods and digital technologies for sustainable development, and will explore new models for sci-tech cooperation," Guo said.