Strengthening Basic Research and Accelerating Technology Landing in Zhejiang Province to Build a High Ground for the Development of Artificial Intelligence Industry
Release time: September 4th, 2019
Artificial intelligence technology is regarded as a strategic technology that leads a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. Recently, with the end of the preliminary round of the “Zhijiang Cup” Global Artificial Intelligence Competition, high-quality teams from four major fields, including zero sample object detection, pedestrian multi-target tracking, e-commerce comment opinion mining, and video description generation, have gathered from around the world. They will enter the semi-finals starting from September 10th.
As a strong internet province, Zhejiang is actively laying out the development of artificial intelligence technology and related industries with the “No.1 Project” of the digital economy as the engine, and building a leading highland for the development of the artificial intelligence industry in the country. Whether it is the “Zhijiang Cup” Global Artificial Intelligence Competition held in full swing, the “Zhejiang Province Action Plan for Promoting the Development of New Generation Artificial Intelligence (2019-2022)” issued earlier this year, or the Hangzhou Urban Brain released in the middle of the year, all reflect the “confidence” of Zhejiang in developing artificial intelligence.
Zhejiang Artificial Intelligence Development Roadmap——
By 2022, we will cultivate over 10 leading artificial intelligence enterprises
From “innovation and entrepreneurship” to “Internet plus”, Zhejiang has drawn beautiful blueprints with the spirit of “working hard, taking the lead, and standing at the forefront”. In the development of the new generation of artificial intelligence, Zhejiang also has specific deployments.
At the beginning of this year, the Department of Economy and Information Technology and the Department of Science and Technology of Zhejiang Province jointly issued the Action Plan for Promoting the Development of New Generation Artificial Intelligence in Zhejiang Province (2019-2022), proposing that Zhejiang Province will develop artificial intelligence in technology, hardware, products, applications, talents, and other aspects in the future. Strive to make significant progress in key areas, basic capabilities, enterprise cultivation, and support systems by 2022, and become a leading new generation artificial intelligence core technology leading area, industrial development demonstration area, and innovative development new highland in China.
It is worth mentioning that a group of high-quality artificial intelligence enterprises have emerged in Zhejiang, ranking among the top in terms of quantity and quality in China.
Taking Alibaba Group as an example, it is committed to conducting research on the core key theories and technologies of artificial intelligence, building an open source ecosystem for artificial intelligence, accelerating the development of intelligent products, creating a number of artificial intelligence industry demonstration applications, and deeply participating in the construction of the artificial intelligence ecosystem.
With the emergence of a series of artificial intelligence enterprises such as iFlytek, Shangtang Technology, and Hongsoft, the Zhejiang Distance Action Plan proposes the goal of cultivating more than 10 internationally competitive artificial intelligence leading enterprises by 2022.
Artificial intelligence technology takes the lead in landing——
The Urban Brain Contributes to the World’s Digital City Construction “Zhejiang Plan”.- Urban brain.
What is the urban brain? You can imagine a scene like this: at a certain intersection, the north-south traffic is rolling in, and the east-west lanes are empty. At this point, the traffic lights seemed to have long eyes, prolonging the green light in the north-south direction and temporarily keeping the red light in the east-west direction, dispelling the large traffic jam that would have occurred.
Wang Jian once said, “The urban brain is an exploration that Hangzhou, representing the Chinese city, is doing for the world, a forward-looking practice of using artificial intelligence for social management. We don’t know to what extent it will eventually evolve, but this is definitely unprecedented.”
In the third year after the release of Hangzhou City Brain, which was in July this year, “City Brain” was released in mid year. A batch of convenient new applications have been launched, allowing tourist attractions to enter the park in 20 seconds without queuing up to purchase tickets; The maximum payment for medical treatment is once; 30 second self-service check-in at a hotel… It is reported that since October 2018, more than 300 people from 29 specialized classes in Hangzhou have been focusing on the construction of the city’s brain. At present, the urban brain has 11 major systems and 48 scenario applications advancing synchronously.
Nowadays, the “urban brain” has emerged from Hangzhou and has landed in more than ten cities both domestically and internationally, including Xiong’an New Area, Quzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Chongqing, Haikou, etc. The construction experience of Hangzhou’s urban brain is contributing excellent digital city solutions to the world and driving a global “urban brain movement”.
In another city in Zhejiang province, Ningbo, CityGo, known as the “City Brain,” is playing the role of the “big steward” of urban data, the “nerve center” of urban intelligence, the “golden abacus” of urban operations, and the “relay station” of urban digital innovation.
The “Urban Brain” in Ningbo is based on the practical foundation of Ningbo City in smart cities and smart economies. It was proposed by Academician Pan Yunhe, former Executive Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Academician Wu Zhiqiang, Vice President of Tongji University. With the support of the Ningbo Smart City Planning Standards Development Research Institute’s Academician Work Station, it collaborates with research institutions such as Zhejiang University, Tongji University, Beijing Normal University, and related enterprises to explore and construct.
Continuously strengthening basic theoretical research——
The “Zhijiang Laboratory” established in Zhejiang has a considerable background
On the morning of September 6, 2017, a stone tablet engraved with the words “Zhijiang Laboratory” was officially unveiled in the China (Hangzhou) Artificial Intelligence Town of Hangzhou Future Science and Technology City, marking the official establishment of a new type of scientific research institution in our province that is open, collaborative, and mixed ownership..And tackling key core technologies.
At present, Pan Yunhe, an academician of the CAE Member, Wu Jiangxing, an academician of the CAE Member, and Fang Jiancheng, an academician of the CAS Member, are respectively employed as the chief scientists in the fields of artificial intelligence, network security, and quantum sensing devices of the Jiang Laboratory. The joining of top academic forces will play a crucial role in the gathering of laboratory talents, scientific research organization, and resource allocation, and has milestone significance in the construction of scientific research operation mechanisms.
Since the construction of the Zhijiang Laboratory two years ago, preliminary scientific research achievements have emerged. The first phase of the “Qianjiangyuan” AI open source platform, which is headed by IEEE Fellow and Dr. Li Jin, founder of Microsoft Research Asia, has been completed and will gradually open to universities, scientific research institutions and enterprises to provide end-to-end solutions based on deep learning for researchers engaged in AI training, exploration, reasoning and analysis. The Zhijiang Laboratory, in collaboration with Zhejiang University, has launched the research and development of the pulse neural network brain chip “Darwin 3rd Generation”. In the future, it will build a billion level neuromorphic brain computing system based on multiple chips, which will be used for cloud based high-performance and low-power brain computing, providing a high-performance platform for neuroscience research.
In addition, projects such as the extreme precision measurement scientific device, the new generation industrial control system safety scientific device, and the medical and health big data and artificial intelligence platform of Zhijiang Laboratory are being vigorously implemented. The full chain artificial intelligence layout that runs through information acquisition, processing, transmission, and application is gradually becoming clear. Zhijiang Laboratory is focusing on four major directions: intelligent perception, intelligent computing, intelligent networks, and intelligent systems, Initiate an impact on the peak of artificial intelligence innovation.
In fact, the research on the basic theory and technology of artificial intelligence in Zhejiang started earlier. As early as 1981, Zhejiang University established the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, which conducted a large amount of research and achieved significant achievements in the research and application of artificial intelligence technology. The establishment of the Zhijiang Laboratory is a significant practice for our province to further strengthen basic research in the field of artificial intelligence.
According to the Action Plan for Promoting the Development of New Generation Artificial Intelligence in Zhejiang Province (2019-2022), Zhijiang Laboratory will carry out core technology research and development with significant leading role in the field of network information and artificial intelligence. It will jointly explore the basic research of artificial intelligence in our province with West Lake University, Alibaba Dharma Institute, Alibaba City Brain National Artificial Intelligence Open Innovation Platform, Hikvision Video Perception Artificial Intelligence Open Innovation Platform, Zhejiang University Artificial Intelligence Collaborative Innovation Center, and others.