IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Chinese capital will further tap emerging tech, including AI, to build a smart city

Beijing will develop into a global exemplar city for digital economy with an overall transformation in production, governance and lifestyle driven by digitization, Yin Yong, mayor of the city, said on Sunday during the second session of the 16th Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

In recent years, the city has pioneered in key technology, infrastructure and application related to the digital sector. "For example, Beijing built 30,000 5G bases last year. It has about half of the country's generative artificial intelligence large model products available for the public. It has a 160-square-kilometer high-level demonstration zone for automatic driving," Yin said while delivering a government work report during the opening ceremony of the session.

The digital economy has become an important driver of China's high-quality development, and the country's industrial policies have accelerated the application of the digital economy in various fields.

In terms of macroeconomic policies, a report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized the importance of expanding domestic demand and deepening supply-side structural reform.

China will scale up measures to spur the growth of the digital economy to inject new impetus into the economy and foster high-quality development, said officials at a major forum during the weekend.

Xiao Yaqing, minister of industry and information technology, said on Saturday the ministry will make a big push to promote digital industrialization and industrial digitalization in the next step.

On the cards is a plan to cultivate and retain digital talent through enhanced training, while attracting talents from outside Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan mentioned plans to promote the city's digital economy, including the establishment of the ‘Digital Policy Office’ by the middle of this year, on his blog on 14 April 2024.

Manufacturing in Chongqing is undergoing a digital metamorphosis. Its image as an old industrial base of China is rapidly giving way to Chongqing redefining itself as a leader in advanced manufacturing.

Chongqing is steadily realizing its vision of becoming one of China's most important advanced manufacturing centers. But it's not just about being among the best in China. The municipality has its sights set squarely on building three world-class advanced manufacturing clusters in the information and communications technology, automotive and equipment-manufacturing industries. This city is well on its way in deepening the integration of its digital economy with its defining trademark of being a manufacturing powerhouse.

A month-long information consumption festival was launched in Shanghai on Friday by the municipal government in an effort to accelerate developing new-quality productive forces and build cutting-edge digital industry clusters with international competitiveness, according to official sources.

"Information consumption is a new consumption model in the digital economy era that focuses on interaction and experience between producers and consumers, featuring greater stability and durability," said Wu Lijian, deputy director of the standing committee of Shanghai's Huangpu district's people's congress during the opening ceremony of the festival.

According to a study recently published by the European Commission, completing the internal market for electronic communications, could make the EU gross domestic product (GDP) grow by up to €110 billion a year, or more than 0.8% of GDP. The study, that was carried out by an international team of experts and academics, suggests three main types of policy measures to tackle obstacles which consists of reducing regulatory fragmentation (e.g. common rules on contract duration and transparency of bills); more European standardisation (to allow pan-European services of assured quality to emerge in areas such as e-Health, e-Energy, e-Mobility); and the need for more coordination of the activities of national telecoms regulators at EU level. In May 2011, new EU telecoms rules to ensure a more competitive telecoms sector entered into force.

The director general of the National Information Technology Development Agency(NITDA) Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi, has said that cloud computing is important in fostering Nigeria’s digital economy, stressing that it plays a significant role in migrating processes online quickly and efficiently.

He described cloud computing as the essential way of delivering services especially in database, networking, artificial intelligence and analytics over the internet, to offer faster innovations, flexible resources, reduced IT costs and better security.

Cyprus ranks 24th out of 28 EU countries as per the 2020 edition of DESI (Digital Economy and Society Index) published by the European Commission on Thursday.

The annual Digital Economy and Society Index measures the progress of EU Member States in their steps towards a digital economy and society, on the basis of Eurostat data as well as specialised studies and collection methods. The DESI 2020 reports are based on 2019 data.

Mit dem weiteren Ausbau von eGovernment könnten Verwaltungsprozesse effizienter gestaltet werden. Staatliches Handeln werde für die Bürger leichter zugänglich und transparenter gemacht, stellte Pschierer fest. Zugangsoptionen, Breitbandangebot und Kompetenz müssten dabei unabhängig von Bevölkerungsschichten, Herkunft oder Wohnort angeboten werden. Eine lebensechte digitale Gesellschaft könne es nur dann geben, wenn der Schutz der Persönlichkeit und der persönlichen Daten im gesellschaftlichen, politischen und individuellen Bewusstsein sowie in institutionellen Regelungen nachhaltig und zukunftssicher verankert sei. IT-Sicherheit sei künftig ein zentraler Standortfaktor im europäischen und im internationalen Wettbewerb. Bürger und Unternehmen würden dorthin gehen, wo sie sich sicher fühlen - auf der Straße, aber auch im Netz.

Um der rasanten technologischen Entwicklung und Herausforderungen wie etwa der Energiewende begegnen zu können, ist dem Bitkom zufolge eine umfassende industriepolitische Agenda für Deutschland nötig. Der Staat müsse unter anderem den Breitband-Ausbau durch ein investitionsfreundliches Klima fördern und Anreize für den Aufbau intelligenter Netze schaffen. In Summe seien Investitionen in dreistelliger Milliardenhöhe erforderlich, die von der Wirtschaft und vom Staat gemeinsam getragen werden sollten.

Central to this will be the development and publication of policies for ‘Digital Economy’ leadership.

This is a crucial piece of the puzzle, because as the article Digital Nation 2011 from Backbone Magazine highlights, Canada is still missing this essential policy.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith proposed an additional allocation of Tk500m for a crash-training programme to develop as many as 10,000 IT professionals in the next two years. The proposal comes despite the fact that the government is yet to release any amount from the Tk7bn ICT development fund promised three years back.

The minister in his budget proposal yesterday also presented a booklet titled “Journey towards a Digital Bangladesh: Update 2013”, which showed that the government has stepped back three years from its promise to bring multimedia class rooms in every schools from 2015.

E-commerce and m-commerce in general continue to rise and rise around the world. Other trends closely linked to this such as e-health and e-government initiatives also continue to gather pace. However, there is a divide occurring with some of the poorest nations around the world still unable to access suitable digital infrastructure to access such services.

This report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments for the Global Digital Economy in terms of the Sharing Economy, E-commerce, E-health, E-education and E-government. The report analyses the key trends occurring in these sectors, supported by statistics and examples.

Belgium's Digital Agenda minister Alexander de Croo has launched a new plan for expanding the digital economy in Belgium. Croo said the government's 'Digital Belgium' plan aims to put the country in the top three of the EU's Digital Economy and Society Index by 2020. Belgium ranked fifth in the most recent version of the index, based mainly on data from 2014.

De Croo's plan include five priorities. The first aims to strengthen investment in digital infrastructure. This will include earlier announced plans aimed at making it easier to switch fixed network provider, as well as regulation aimed at making easier to roll out next-generation broadband infrastructure and to ensure a level playing field in the market.

For all the recent debate about free movement of people and control of borders, the conversation has all too often ignored some of the technological advances taking place in the Baltic states related to digital identities, wallets and e-government in general.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and independence, successive Baltic governments saw the value of harnessing the internet and creating a leading digital infrastructure that could support a digital economy.

The value of Thailand’s digital economy has swelled by 20 per cent this year to Bt2.5 trillion, accounting for 17 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), with even faster growth pencilled in for next year by a leading forecaster.

The Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting of University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) expects the information technology-related economy will expand 25 per cent next year to Bt3.2 trillion next year, making up 19 per cent of GDP. The centre’s projection is based on an assumed national economic growth of more than four per cent.