Smart China expo discusses how to build effective digital government

Smart China Expo Kaizhou Forum on the Construction of Digital Government took place in Kaizhou District, Chongqing. Experts, researchers and business representatives tackled the topic of how to build an effective digital government, and how such a government would yield new opportunities for the development of public services, rural areas and industries.

1. Public services continue to improve as digital government becomes the norm
In the view of Meng Qingguo, executive director of the National Governance Institute of Tsinghua University, when building a digital government, a thorough reconstruction of the existing department-driven information model where systems, platforms, and data are decentralized becomes necessary. The government is now being tasked with accelerating the establishment of a national, fully integrated big data system for all public affairs, with the multiple goals of further promoting the integration and sharing of data, improving existing and developing new data disclosure, authorization and operation mechanisms, and putting in place a digital government that is both systematic and holistic.

Li Zonglei, director of the E-government Office of Chongqing Municipal People’s Government, said that as a key part of the city’s efforts to build a digital government, Yukuaiban, the integrated online government service platform of the E-government Office has digitalized and created e-documents for every resident including their ID, health, social security and medical insurance information. The platform is divided into service areas for more than 100 application scenarios covering housing, employment, tourism, entertainment and shopping, in addition to providing local residents with easier access to authentication, medical treatment, transportation, and other services. Next, the E-government Office will continue to enhance the online delivery system for the full range of public services, making it more user-friendly and widening the number of channels through which the services can be accessed.

Pu Binbin, Party Secretary of Kaizhou District, Chongqing, said that based on actual conditions, the district will build a digital government, a digital and smart Kaizhou, and digital villages, with the goal of promoting quality development throughout the region with big data and intelligence, while providing more convenience to the companies and residents who do business and live in Kaizhou.

2. Digital villages facilitate the optimization of the rural digital governance system
According to Lei Xiaoling, deputy director of the Standing Committee of Kaizhou District People’s Congress, more than 5,300 4G base stations, 1,500 5G base stations, and six Internet Towns have been built in the district, forming a strong network of agricultural big data and resources. A large number of premium and unique rural e-commerce brands are emerging with the establishment of the online big data platform, creating a flourishing rural network culture and making the rural digital governance system more sophisticated.

Zhang Zhaoxin, a researcher at the Rural Economy Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, suggested that digital technology be deployed to enhance the IT infrastructure and network, overhaul the basic information collection system, accelerate the development of service systems, and build a system-wide services chain, empowering the transformation of the whole agricultural industry chain in addition to enabling the public and specialized services systems to better serve rural revitalization.

Wang Dacheng, deputy secretary of the National Remote Sensing Application Engineering Technology Research Center of the Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that given where the world is at in terms of the transition into the digital era, the planning and governance of rural areas is in urgent need of digital technologies. E-maps, satellite images, capture of street scenes in real time and other geographic information data, as well as portals where villagers can participate in interactive activities, can deliver to the community what is expected and should be expected from rural governance.

3. The digital economy is the future as digital industries are booming
At the forum, Tan Jianrong, an researcher at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor at Zhejiang University, summarized five key steps that must be taken to achieve a digital economy and digital transformation: innovative design, process improvement, quality enhancement, service extension and market expansion, all of which serve to advance the digital transformation of all businesses in the region and foster quality development of a digital economy.

Zhao Kefeng, academic chairman of the Shenzhen Artificial Intelligence Industry Association, offered the opinion that it is necessary to accelerate the process of extracting value from the available data, promote the digital transformation of the real economy, strengthen the governance capacity of the digital economy, improve basic industrial capabilities, and further the open cooperation that will be the result of the creation of a digital economy.

Guo Linyuan, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and deputy general manager of Digital Chongqing Company, said that Chongqing is moving forward with the construction of Smart City 2.0 and, while doing so, improve urban intelligence with big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and other technologies, strengthen the underlying infrastructure, resolve any data chokepoints, and exploit the value of data, while fostering the agglomeration and development of industry and commerce.

The forum was hosted by the Organizing Committee of Smart China Expo, and co-organized by the Chongqing Big Data Application and Development Administration and Chongqing Kaizhou District People’s Government. Xinhua Finance