China is gearing up for big data, with the launch of a pilot zone in the southwestern province of Guizhou and the release of a set of guidelines setting frameworks of the country’s development on big data in the next five to 10 years.
China launched last Friday its first ever big data zone in Guizhou, using it as a testbed for big data sharing, use, innovation and security, China Dailyreports.
As a pilot zone, Guizhou will build a cloud-based big data platform, called Guizhou on the Cloud, which enables provincial government data to be pooled, shared and exchanged.
The platform will later integrate data from city- and county-level governmental departments by the end of next year, the state-owned news outlet quoted Chen Gang, party secretary of provincial capital Guiyang city, as saying.
One of the least developed regions in China, Guizhou has emerged as a pioneer in the country’s big data development as the three-stated own telecom operators - China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom - as well as local internet players such as Tencent and Alibaba have moved into the province’s Gui'an New District since 2013 to set up cloud computing facilities and big data centers there.
The launch of the Guizhou pilot zone comes weeks after the State Council released guidelines to boost the development of big data in China.
According to the guidelines, China aims to build a trans-departmental data sharing capability by the end of 2017 and a unified platform for governmental data before the end of 2018, which allows citizens to get access to public data resources including credit, transport, public health, employment, culture, education, science, agriculture, and finance and weather services.
China will also accelerate the opening and sharing of government data to promote the integration of resources and improve governance, boost industrial innovation and foster new business patterns to support economic restructuring.
To achieve these goals, the government will set up an overall coordination mechanism for big data development and application, speed up the establishment of relevant rules, and encourage cooperation between the government, enterprises and institutions, the State Council said in the statement.
In addition, China aims to nurture a group of international brands in the big data industry, including 10 global leading enterprises and 500 firms focusing on big data applications, services and manufacturing by the end of 2020.