'Cloud town,' AI zones to boost Shanghai's digital footprint
Shanghai is building several zones to boost its digital-city construction, including a "cloud town" along the Suzhou Creek and a digital culture and artificial intelligence zone next to the Huangpu River, Shanghai Daily learned on Monday.
In the first phase of the ambitious plan, eight digital zones will be built across the city, covering new technologies like cloud, AI, metaverse, digital twin and smart manufacturing, according to the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization.
A "cloud town" called Haina, with cloud networks and smart applications for retail and parking, will debut in Putuo District. Eleven digital giants, including 360 and JD.com, are investing in smart retail and AI algorithms for Haina.
In its long-term blueprint, the cloud town will include a digitalized transportation system and seafood market, covering control, central management and online payment sectors, around 2025.
Haina is an upgraded version of similar smart towns in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province; and Wuxi, Jiangsu Province; based on cloud and the Internet of Things, according to Putuo officials.
Twin towers in the shape of "AI" have been built in the Xuhui riverside region.
In the Xuhui Riverside region in Xuhui District, many AI and culture firms, covering film, animation and art trading and exhibition, have set up facilities, employing 200,000 white-collar professionals. In the future, a digital service map, including online reservations, digital exhibitions and smart retail, will be created based on advanced information infrastructure.
Xuhui currently has 600,000 smart terminals, including 200,000 IoT terminals. The district has about 2,000 fifth generation base stations that provide 100 percent 1-gigabyte network coverage.
Other digital zones are going up in Lingang and Zhangjiang regions of the Pudong New Area, as well as in Yangpu and Jing'an districts.
On Thursday, a weeklong smart city promotional event will kick off in Shanghai, including the release of a white paper on city digitalization results, according to the local commission.
