New infrastructure is a hot topic at the 2020 National Two Sessions. As one of the core areas of "new infrastructure," the industrial internet can be seen as the leader of digital "new infrastructure," and therefore is highly valued by central decision-makers.

According to the plan, China will develop the industrial internet in "three steps": By 2025, an infrastructure and industrial system with international competitiveness will be basically formed, and the industrial internet network infrastructure covering all regions and industries will be basically completed. By 2035, key areas of the industrial internet will achieve international leadership. By the middle of this century, the comprehensive strength of the industrial internet will rank among the top in the world.

How the Industrial Internet Stands on the "New Infrastructure" High Ground

"As a product of the deep integration of new-generation network information technology and manufacturing, the industrial internet is an important infrastructure and key support for achieving digital, networked, and intelligent development of industries, and an important cornerstone of the Fourth Industrial Revolution," said Yu Xiaohui, Vice President of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology and Secretary-General of the Industrial Internet Industry Alliance.

Li Ping, Chairman of the Zhongguancun Industrial Internet Industry Alliance, shares the same view: "Countries around the world are promoting the application of industrial internet technology in the industrial field, all hoping to grasp the discourse power of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, ensure their leading advantages in global economic competition, and all have profound national strategic considerations."

The inclusion of the industrial internet in new-type infrastructure also affirms the positive role of the industrial internet in manufacturing development and economic development.

Specifically:

First, the industrial internet is becoming an infrastructure for enterprises to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Through the deployment of the industrial internet, traditional manufacturing technology and production operation organization systems are integrated with 5G, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other new-generation information technologies, achieving digital, networked, and intelligent upgrades of production and operation management. Enterprise manufacturing resource allocation and utilization efficiency and productivity are significantly improved, and industrial value chain enhancement is achieved.

Second, it is becoming a powerful tool for promoting the transformation and upgrading of the real economy. The industrial internet has strong permeability, not only used in the industrial field, but also integrated with various fields of the entire real economy including energy, transportation, agriculture, and healthcare, providing network connectivity and computing processing platforms for digital transformation and upgrading of various industries, and accelerating the digitalization process of various fields of the real economy.

Third, it is becoming a new driver of economic growth. The essence of the industrial internet is to use data flows to drive technology flows, capital flows, talent flows, and material flows, forming new production methods and development paradigms, thereby promoting the restructuring of traditional industrial manufacturing systems and service systems, and significantly improving the quality and efficiency of traditional drivers. At the same time, it will promote the optimal allocation of various resource elements and close collaboration of industrial chains, continuously innovate products, services, and business models, extend value chains, and form new growth drivers.

Enhancing Industrial Internet Platform Capabilities and Technological Capabilities

Zhou Yunjie, National People's Congress representative and President of Haier Group, suggested combining 5G, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, blockchain, industrial internet, and other innovative technologies to enhance China's industrial internet platform capabilities and technological capabilities.

Combined with "new infrastructure" construction, combine 5G, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, blockchain, industrial internet, and other innovative technologies to enhance China's industrial internet platform capabilities and technological capabilities; concentrate advantageous resources, focus on industrial software and industrial APP R&D, and establish an open-source ecosystem; through industry-finance integration, accelerate the intelligentization, networking, and informatization of enterprises to meet the requirements of the industrial internet; introduce relevant policies to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to use platforms, and clarify the responsibility of platform providers to empower small and medium-sized enterprises.

Developing the Industrial Internet to Solve Enterprise "Digital Anxiety"

Sun Pishu, National People's Congress representative and Chairman & CEO of Inspur Group, stated that helping governments, enterprises, and individuals solve "digital anxiety" through the development of new-type internet has always been a topic on his lips. For many years, Sun Pishu has been striving to fulfill his expectations.

After proposing industrial internet-related suggestions for two consecutive years, this year he once again proposed the "Suggestion on Promoting the In-depth Development of Industrial Internet and Promoting Digital Transformation Development." The suggestion points out that in the process of China's industrial internet applications gradually deepening, there still exist problems such as insufficient market-oriented operation and continuous service capabilities, weak platform ecosystem, and insufficient PaaS layer empowerment of platforms.

To strengthen the industrial foundation, Sun Pishu suggested encouraging enterprises to share and open data that does not affect enterprise production and operation, promoting industrial data flow to cultivate new models and new business formats of data-driven industrial development, and achieving quality improvement and efficiency enhancement in manufacturing; accelerate the construction of industrial APP developer talent teams, build an industrial internet APP application innovation ecosystem, fully leverage the role of manufacturing industry associations and software associations, and encourage different types of enterprises to cooperate in industrial software joint development and promotion and application.

He also suggested that local governments and industry and information technology departments authorize and encourage industrial internet platform operators to adopt market-oriented means to actively coordinate the construction and operation of industrial internet public service platforms and park industrial internet platforms, build regional and industrialized new-type infrastructure, and introduce relevant preferential policies to promote small and medium-sized enterprises to migrate to the cloud and use platforms.

Whoever Owns the Industrial Internet Will Master the Future of Industry

Every industrial revolution is led by a certain technology, and every industrial revolution also gave birth to a new economic power. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, driven by the application of internet technology in the industrial field as the core technology driving force, has arrived. We are pleased to see that more and more manufacturing enterprises are beginning to embrace digitalization and the industrial internet.

As "the first batch of intelligent manufacturing system solution providers" and "intelligent manufacturing key technology and equipment suppliers" of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, and the first batch of excellent technology suppliers of industrial internet platforms of the Industrial Internet Industry Alliance of the MIIT Academy of Information and Communications, Tiantuo Sifang Group will bring the "Shu Wang Xing Industrial Internet Platform," Siemens industrial software and hardware products and technology, and self-developed series of data acquisition, network, communication, electrical supporting hardware products and real-time database software, to help the implementation and practice of "ten thousand industrial manufacturing enterprises migrating to the cloud."