“Data” has become a “major matter” for Shanghai in the year of 2022.

On January 1, 2022, the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Data (hereinafter referred to as “the Regulations”) came into force. On January 12, Shanghai’s first municipal government press conference of 2022 was held. The conference theme also focused on data, and it was announced that 37 supporting measures for the Regulations falling in seven aspects will be successively introduced during the year.

A year ago, also on the first working day of 2021, the Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Urban Digital Transformation of Shanghai was officially released. These key time nodes have sent a powerful signal that Shanghai has already mapped out a clear path for its future urban development. All Shanghai needs to do now is to seize the hour and take firm steps to build itself into an international digital capital with world influence.

Why does Shanghai take this matter so seriously? It is because data is the basic strategic resource of the city, constantly affecting our production and life.

In the process of urban digital transformation, new key infrastructures such as broadband optical fibers, base stations and cloud computing centers provide the necessary physical facilities, while data as a new production factor is deeply integrated into the process of economic value creation.

On this new business track, Shanghai is now firmly in the first tier in China – taking a commanding national lead in terms of data industry size, circulation activity and data value transformation capacity. There are now over 1,000 companies that take data as core competence in Shanghai, and the core industry of the city has reached a size of RMB230 billion, with a CAGR well above the national average.

Last November, Shanghai Data Exchange was officially unveiled in Zhangjiang, Pudong. New progress has also been made in the construction of the International Data Port. As two important carriers of Shanghai's data element market, Shanghai Data Exchange and the International Data Port will accelerate efforts to make Shanghai a gathering place of domestic data element resources and a global hub of data gathering and circulation.

The booming digital economy is fast becoming an important new engine of economic growth in the post-Covid era. Recently, the State Council issued the 14th Five-Year Plan for the development of Digital Economy, making it clear that digital economy is a main economic form after agricultural economy and industrial economy. The digital economy has now demonstrated an unprecedented speed of development, scope of radiation and depth of influence.

The promulgation and enforcement of the Regulations has pressed the "Acceleration Key" for Shanghai to fully stimulate the vitality of data elements, while fastening the "safety belt" for its urban digital transformation. Shanghai needs to adhere to innovation-driven development and empower high-quality development, while earnestly protecting the interests of the people and bridging the digital divide.

In addition to the continuously improving forward-looking top-level design, application scenarios around citizens are also expanding fast.

The World Expo Cultural Park, which was unveiled earlier this year, is a typical example. It is not only the largest riverside park in urban areas of Shanghai, but also gains the name as "Shanghai’s No.1 Intelligent Park”. With the successful opening of the Park (i.e. its northern area), the "integrated operation management platform" has been officially put into use.

When tourists walk through the winding dry streams and quiet forests, they may not realize that the 28,000 elegant or tall trees around them all have their own "electronic ID cards", which record the growth habits, irrigation and maintenance details of the trees. Through the twin park base of digital transformation, various data are incorporated into a unified management platform. After the whole park is completed, 15 weak current systems, 12 electromechanical systems, some 350,000 terminals, roughly 30,000 green plant chips and 101 equipment categories will be covered by the platform, which can directly reach the "nerve endings" of the park to make service management more accurate and efficient and deliver a more comfortable and convenient park experience to visitors.

The digital transformation of a city is ultimately to serve the people. From intelligent manufacturing and online new economy to intelligent healthcare and digital scenic spots and then to "Government Online-Offline Shanghai” for government services and "All-in-One Administrative Network" for urban operations, none is any exception. Digital empowerment has now blossomed everywhere in the fields of economy, life and governance in Shanghai. It is believed that more digital application scenarios will reach citizens in the near future to better meet their needs and make urban life better.

In the digital age, Shanghai has lofty missions on its shoulders. It needs to accurately seize the opportunity, make forward-looking layouts, take up the "commanding height" and achieve the “Shanghai Speed”. Firmly setting sight on the goal of building itself into an international digital capital, Shanghai has now risen to the occasion and is forging ahead on the gathering momentum!

 

Author: Yang Jie, Xinmin Evening News