On March 5, Premier Li made a report on the work of the government. Three hot words in the field of science and technology were mentioned in the report for the first time, which provided technology researchers with new expectations.
Intelligent Plus
From the perspective of Yin Hao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), "intelligent plus" is an upgraded version of "internet plus", and the new concept embodies the new empowerment of artificial intelligence to the society.
"In the past, we only focused on transforming and upgrading traditional industries. As "intelligent plus" is proposed, big data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cloud computing and other advanced technologies can be combined together to boost traditional industries."
As a representative of the manufacturing sector, Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi Group, is one of the prominent figures most familiar with "internet plus".
After listening to the report, Lei remarked, "The prime minister mentioned the creating of an industrial internet platform, and expanding 'intelligent plus', to empower the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry. We must strive to use the thinking of 'intelligent plus' to improve efficiency and better the quality of products and services, so that more users around the world can choose Chinese products and services."
The creation of ceilings in funding that enable the retention of unused funds
"The report mentioned that it is necessary to respect and trust the scientific research personnel. As a front-line scientific researcher, I’m particularly excited about the new system", said Xu Xing, a paleontologist at CAS's Institute of Ancient Spine and Paleoanthropology.
Yang Wei, former director of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, said that every researcher must submit a financial budget when applying for a research project.
The financial budget contains different subjects, and each subject has a certain proportion of requirements for the use of funds. The use of a "packaging system", in his view, provides the research team with more power to decide how to use funds.
Ethics rules in research
When receiving an interview, Li Lan, a CAS academician, said that as a responsible economic power, China attaches great importance to scientific ethics and academic norms. Scientific achievements should not be made on the expense of breaking bottom line on ethics.
He also stressed that it is not only necessary to improve the scientific literacy of scientific research personnel, but also vital to strengthen the education of ethics in scientific research.
"Without the constraint of ethical norms as well as relevant laws and regulations to restrict, the future will be chaotic," Li noted.
