Consensus emerges on shared digital future

The World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit has helped create consensus among internet-related industry professionals on critical issues like digital cooperation, innovation and security management, the event organizers, experts and attendees said on Friday.

They further said the outcomes of the summit, which concluded on Friday, will go a long way in building a community with a shared future in cyberspace.

Ren Xianliang, secretary-general of the World Internet Conference, said the summit persuaded various specialists, including government officials, company executives and experts from more than 120 countries and regions, to reach an agreement that further efforts should be made to make emerging technologies more accessible and affordable, improve people's skills at using digital devices and build a digital sharing system that benefits all.

"Cooperation is the key to successfully addressing cyber challenges in the digital era. Participants of the summit have advocated the establishment of multiparty cooperation and relevant framework to achieve common interests and build a shared digital future," Ren said at news conference of the summit.

This year's online-and-offline summit, which was on the theme "Toward a Shared Digital Future in a Connected World — Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace", attracted over 2,100 participants from more than 120 countries and regions, a record high that was reached despite COVID-19 challenges.

The summit generated heated debates on topics like digital cooperation, data management, artificial intelligence, the "digital divide" and global cooperation on cybersecurity.

The debates in turn led to consensus on enhancing winwin digital cooperation, innovative development of the digital economy and security governance of the digital ecosystem, Ren said.

The concepts of jointly building a community with a shared future in cyberspace and forging a path for global digital development have been highly recognized and warmly received by all participants, he said.

"Participants have also said that the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries through digitalization, networking and intelligence is an inevitable requirement and trend for the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry," Ren said.

On the concluding day of the summit, the Straight to Wuzhen Competition gave away awards to certain projects that took part in the competition. Seven projects covering areas like digital medical care, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity won special awards. In all, over 1,110 projects from 24 countries and regions vied for honors.

Wang Gang, head of the publicity department of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, said The Light of Internet Expo, which was part of the summit, attracted 415 enterprises from more than 40 countries and regions online and offline.

The 74 activities in the expo included launch of new products and technologies, which helped increase their brand influence and explore new business opportunities.