The recently concluded annual gathering in Guiyang, China for the big data sector brought together the industry’s leaders and experts

GUIYANG, China- The closing ceremony for China International Big Data Industry Expo 2018 (Big Data Expo 2018) was held in Guiyang, China on the morning of May 29. Guiyang Mayor and Deputy Secretary of the Guiyang Municipal Party Committee Chen Yan attended the press conference and spoke about the important achievements of the event.

Hosted by member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Committee and executive vice mayor Xu Hao, the Expo was attended by Guizhou Provincial Big Data Development Authority deputy director Jing Yaping, Standing Committee of Guizhou Municipal People’s Congress deputy director Xiang Yang, Guiyang deputy mayor Wang Yuxiang and Guiyang Municipal Government secretary-general Liu Benli.

With the theme of “Data for Everything, Intelligence for Integration”, Big Data Expo 2018, which, according to the Guiyang mayor, had achieved everything that the event had set out to do, was the first international big data industrial expo held in what is being termed as “the new era”.

The mayor further elaborated: “Under the leadership of the Guizhou provincial party committee and the provincial government, and the support of the ministries and provincial and municipal departments tasked with the implementation of data-driven new technologies, Big Data Expo 2018 highlighted the important concepts that must be taken into account when undertaking any major project today: a global vision, national interests, industry roles and corporate responsibilities, while adhering to the highest standards in terms of accuracy and security in the course of execution, in order to assure the success of not only the project at hand but also that of the organizations involved in the project. The Expo has now become the barometer for what is happening in terms of development in the world of big data and the authoritative international platform within the industry.”

During the three days, from May 26 to 29, Big Data Expo 2018 featured an opening and closing ceremony, eight high-level dialogues, 65 professional forums, 40 sessions during which research results were announced and explained, 81 investment promotions and 278 sessions at which business proposals seeking partners were dissected and discussed. In all, agreements for 199 projects were signed, representing an aggregate value of 35.3 billion yuan (approx. US$5.5 billion). Themed as “new e-commerce models lead to new forms of convergence, while the advent of a new era leads to new forms of development”, the concurrently held 2018 China E-Commerce Innovation and Development Summit included several key events, including the CEO salon, the main forum, eight break-out sessions, the annual grand ceremony and the release of the China E-Commerce Development Index Report for 2017.

With an agenda that touched on new and emerging challenges and opportunities, Big Data Expo 2018 attracted the unprecedented participation of several industry leaders and experts who spoke at the various professional forums, creating an atmosphere categorized by a lively and interesting exchange of ideas. The number of institutions sending a delegation to the expo has noticeably increased since the last edition of the event. The expo itself is decidedly more professionally organized, a well-defined and welcoming big data culture which can best be described as “ubiquitous intelligence” has emerged, while the entire event has become profoundly more globalized and international in nature. Hosting more than 120,000 participants, including 661 special guests from 29 countries and regions who shared their ideas with the goal of jointly exploring the trends taking place across the big data sector during a period of disruptive transformation for science and technology as well as for industry in general. With the participation of 388 domestic and foreign firms and organizations and an exhibition featuring some one thousand of the latest products, technologies and solutions, including displays of 51 noteworthy scientific and technological achievements in big data and related industries, among them 11 technologies that can only be described as “futuristic and mind-boggling”, 10 new technologies, 20 new products and 10 new business models. Two contests, the Artificial Intelligence Global Competition and the Unmanned Global Challenge, were also held at the expo. The event was widely covered by the 1,639 journalists from 193 media outlets who attended.

The Guiyang mayor, Mr. Chen, also emphasized the theoretical results of this Expo. Several documents were released by the organizers during the event, including the White Paper on the Digital Economy and Digital Governance 2018, Digital China, Blockchain Enables the Digital Economy, China’s Big Data Valley: Big Data Leads the Rise of Environmental Awareness, as well as several papers detailing other high-profile big data research projects. The projects show how Chinese wisdom, Chinese practices and Chinese methodologies for planning can be applied to the management of internet information security and governance as well as to every step in the implementation of China’s big data strategy.

The city of Guiyang fully intends to make good use of and transform the achievements of this Expo in line with the policy decisions of the provincial party committee and the provincial government, and to plan and prepare for next year’s Expo. Efforts will be made to deliver an Expo that is truly an international gathering replete with opportunities for cooperation that lead to the further development of the industry as well as a world-class platform where the next stage of that development is mapped out and the latest achievements are shared. We look forward to the next edition of the event which will serve as, to use a metaphor, “fertile soil for the tree of wisdom”, in a move to fully maximize on every aspect of what big data as a science and a discipline can deliver, with the goal leveraging big data to ultimately lead the development of an economy that resonates with the times as well as one that makes an meaningful contribution to society and the greater good.

As a closing note, Mr. Chen verbalized a sincere invitation, asking all present to come together again next year – on May 26, 2019