IT service providers seek international cooperation partners

China's information technology service is marching its way into the world of smart manufacturing with growing cross-border cooperation in the industry, experts said.

As part of the fifth China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services, the 2018 Smart Service Summit and the sixth Matchmaking Conference for International Software and Information Enterprises were launched on Wednesday, focusing on the development of a manufacturing industry that features smart services.

At the summit, software developers and IT service suppliers from home and abroad involved in big data, cloud computing, internet of things and artificial intelligence took part in exchanges with representatives of the manufacturing industry in sectors such as automobiles and electronics.

"Over the past 30 years, China's manufacturing industry has grown fast but not strong enough," said Zhong Mingbo, director of the Beijing Association of Sourcing Services, a co-organizer of the summit.

IT tends to be integrated into business processes, he said. "The manufacturing requires the IT support to become stronger."

Thunder Software Technology, a high-tech enterprise in Beijing, also known as ThunderSoft, is seeking international cooperation in the areas of smart vehicles and IoT. The combination of IT and manufacturing is an inevitable choice for enterprises and is consistent with the country's strategy, said Zhu Hongqin, vice-president of ThunderSoft.

In the past, China had advantages because of its demographic dividend and low-cost labor force, she said. "Now we have our own technology and intellectual property, and accessing the biggest market relies on independent research and development.

"The automobile industry and IoT are the most promising sectors at the present and in the future," Zhu said. "We hope to become a top provider of smart technologies through cross-border cooperation."

Beijing Mingyue Software Technology, a high-tech company that provides IT services, was founded in 2017. It is displaying its IT-enabled static traffic products at CIFTIS.

The current problem of road traffic in urban areas is the lack of IT management, especially in the first- and second-tier cities, said Zhang Luchuan, vice-president of the company.

"In the heart of the first-tier cities, the construction and maintenance of parking lots has high costs and cannot keep up with the rising demand," he said.

In order to reduce those costs and make it easier for drivers to find a parking space, the company has developed an intelligent parking space lock. The smart lock can share information about a parking spaces status, whether it is occupied or vacant, and also provides drivers with the ability to book the space via a smart phone app.

"The parking problems are mostly about time and space. Thus we developed a product to realize remote control, information and payment in real time," Zhang said.

By installing the lock, owners of a parking space's can rent it out to others by using Beijing Mingyue Software Technology's app or through WeChat.

"With the proposal of green commuting, we hope this product can help to save time for drivers," Zhang added.

Overseas institutions including the Japan Information Technology Services Industry Association and India's National Association of Software and Services Companies also took part in the discussions on international cooperation between IT and manufacturing industries.

liangkaiyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/31/2018 page24)