Shanghai's digital transformation in full swing

Smart technologies like artificial intelligence and 5G are being developed across downtown districts and major transport hubs to boost digital urban management and cap Shanghai’s digital transformation strategy.

Driven by the city government’s ambition to lead the world in the development of AI, local districts are turning historical industrial sites into innovation parks related to the burgeoning technology.

Riverside regions along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek have been renewed with parks and walking paths as well as intelligent applications and innovation parks for high-tech firms.

The city’s former iron-steel base in the north is being transformed into innovation and smart towns to focus on the medical and pharmaceutical sectors. A major production line for COVID-19 vaccines will be developed on the former site of polluted industrial sites.

A new software hub is taking shape in west Shanghai as the city strives to become an international powerhouse of digital economy by 2022.

The boom in the online economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic has brought more opportunities for tech firms and new online businesses in telecommuting, online entertainment, e-commerce, online education and contact-free delivery.

New infrastructure, such as 5G base stations and charging stations for electric cars, are expected to help restore the economy after the pandemic as well as drive future economic development.

Changyang Belt

The major online new economy ecological park on the Huangpu River waterfront in Yangpu District will feature riverside gardens, preserved industrial heritage, apartments and backstreet markets.

The Changyang Belt Park that covers 7.46 square kilometers along the river was one of the two online new economy eco-parks unveiled by Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng along with the Zhangjiang Online park in the Pudong New Area.

The district government said the eco-park will not be like traditional high-tech parks with “cold technology,” but full of life and humanity, while the “gene” of the city’s century-old industrial heritages along the river will be well inherited by the online new economy tech firms.

The Yangpu riverside region is known as the birthplace of China's modern industries, with the nation's first water, electricity, shipbuilding and textile companies. Many industrial buildings have been preserved during redevelopment.

The Yangpu eco-park will include a riverside belt along the 15.5-kilometer waterfront, featuring ecological gardens, new technologies, development patterns and businesses.

The Changyang Campus, a key site along the belt, has been designated as Shanghai’s first downtown AI park. It was renovated from the old Donghua cotton mill built in 1920.

Intelligent robots, gadgets incorporating facial recognition, automated driving and the Internet of Things are everywhere on the campus. An unmanned shuttle bus known as Apollo carries people around.

The Huangpu River waterfront, which has long been occupied by large state-owned enterprises and financial companies, will also be home to internet and startup firms with the launching of the Yangpu park.

Livestreaming company Bilibili and its subsidiaries have seen revenues rising by 73.54 percent as of September 2020, while revenue of delivery platforms such as JD-Daojia and Dada have increased by more than 80 percent.

North Bund

The world’s first 5G application exhibition and innovation center has been launched at the North Bund waterfront in Hongkou District, making Hongkou a pioneer in the city for the coverage of 5G connectivity and broadband gigabit network.

The 5G International Innovation Harbor, in a four-story building along the Huangpu River in Hongkou, has an exhibition hall displaying the most updated applications based on 5G, the next generation of mobile communication technology, along with innovation platforms for global enterprises to join the development.

Leading Chinese technology companies, including Huawei, ZiFiSense and Lora, display their technologies, facilities, products and scenarios based on 5G.

A futuristic outlook at 6G technology, or 5G-plus low earth orbit mobile-satellite communications, is showcased. The joint innovation center on 5G-plus VSAT, or Very Small Aperture Terminal, is targeted to be a highland of China on low earth orbit mobile satellite communications.

Ten 5G applications such as smart medical treatments, wisdom education, smart retail, smart public security, fire prevention and urban management are on display.

Shanghai General Hospital has become the city’s first hospital to be fully covered by the 5G network. It is exploring the application of 5G for pre-hospital first-aid, remote consultations, remote surgery guidance, remote ultrasound connections and augmented reality guidance.

Shanghai East Foreign Language School affiliated to Shanghai International Studies University has been sharing its quality classes with North Daqiu Middle School in China’s southwest Yunnan Province. The program aims to improve linguistic education in remote mountainous regions and facilitate China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

China Construction Bank’s North Bund branch is the first 5G bank in the city. It uses 5G and AI to explore the customer self-service experience.

The Hongkou Public Security Bureau is exploring a police three-dimensional patrol system. With 5G, AI, big data, cloud computing and other technologies, the system can realize intelligent law enforcement, patrols, warnings, remote command and fast responses to emergencies.

The Hongkou fire brigade uses drones to carry out fire drills and enhance emergency response capabilities. Drones can help locate fires quickly, take photos and send them to the command center through the 5G network. The facility can help firefighters choose the most efficient ways to extinguish blazes.

Hongkou District Urban Management Law Enforcement Bureau, with the help of the 5G bandwidth, has realized a new mobile law enforcement pattern. High-definition panoramic cameras are installed on law enforcement patrol cars while the officers wear recorders to send back real-time information to the command headquarters.

The No. 78 plot in Hongkou has launched a smart site management platform to monitor personnel and construction materials entering the site. With the help of 4K HD video surveillance and 5G technology, the platform improved the management and reduced costs while ensuring the safety of the construction site.

West Bund

The West Bund waterfront in Xuhui District has become a center that attracts some of the world's top scientists and companies working in the realm of AI.

The riverside region reflects the city’s early industrial heritage, once encompassing a coal wharf, cement factory, several giant fuel tanks and an aircraft hangar. Today, it has ambitions to become the “AI Valley” of Shanghai.

The Shanghai AI Tower, comprising two newly built landmark buildings on the waterfront, has launched a global promotion campaign.

Leading companies in the sector from home and abroad — including Microsoft Research Asia, Huawei and Alibaba, and startups like United Imaging and Yitu — have offices here. The idea is to create a “vertical AI industrial chain” for production, study, research and applications.

The AI Tower features 5G network coverage and an intelligent building management system. It serves international exchanges, application exhibitions as well as research and transformation of AI technologies.

Xuhui plans to create a multitude of AI applications in smart government affairs, transport, medical service and education to help people enjoy a safer, more convenient and quality intelligent life.

Around the building, Xuhui District will build an AI Valley covering 1.2 million square meters along the river for AI-related industries.

In another key project, Beiyang AI Town, covering 543,000 square meters along the Dianpu River and the city’s Outer Ring Road, will become the city's first AI town where AI and big data technologies will be implemented in urban information and public infrastructure as well as public service facilities.

It will become a demonstration area for AI applications in medicine, finance, transport, media and business.

China-Israel Innovation Hub

Putuo aims to become a pilot zone for urban digital transformation by developing a “Putuo Lab” for Shanghai’s digital economy.

The China-Israel Innovation Hub, a key project to realize the ambition, aims to become a testing site for a smarter urban-management system empowered by AI.

The innovation park was renovated from Shanghai’s Hero pen factory, a company established in 1931. Such industrial heritage is being incorporated into an AI park jointly operated by the Putuo District government and the Lingang Group.

During the renovation, Internet of Things technology has linked up the park’s lighting, energy, elevator controls and environmental monitoring. Based on core Welink technology from Tencent, a smart building network platform featuring AI and cloud computing operates and manages the office buildings automatically.

Elsewhere in the northwest district, a list of 100 innovative applications along with 10 demands on the economy, life and social governance have been released. The information was collected from local companies and residents.

The requirements include helping the elderly to call taxis, developing smart scenarios to find senior citizens who have gone missing, curb fire risks in residential buildings and protect the elderly living alone prone to falling down.

Leading digital economy tech firms such as 360, JD and Huawei have released applications for campus security and senior care in Putuo. Other smart applications will be applied to smart hotels, intelligent classrooms, entrance guards, manhole monitoring and data analysis.

Meanwhile, China’s first university focused on the online economy has been launched in Putuo to offer new occupational training for the mobile Internet era. Neighboring the innovation hub, the university aims to train high-level talent for the development of the online new economy.

Hongqiao International Opening-Up Hub

Hongqiao International Airport will become an “outstanding benchmark” for global smart airports by 2030. The airport at the newly unveiled Hongqiao International Opening-Up Hub has begun shifting its focus from physical expansions to digital and intelligent transformations along with the Pudong International Airport.

A “super brain” to support the airports’ future planning and operation management will be developed by 2022 — a smart command system designed to facilitate safe operations while improving efficiency and service.

By 2025, the airport aims to lead China’s intelligent airport construction with the world’s highest level of infrastructure as well as advanced digital operations, management and services.

Under the premise of cybersecurity, the airport will implement new technologies and applications to the airports’ operations, services, safety, business affairs, management, logistics, transportation, energy and environment.

To achieve that goal, the airport authority will develop “digital twins” for the airport. Its management teams will be able to oversee and control operations via a single screen.

Smart technologies such as intelligent computing, network connections, intelligent sensors and information gathering will be installed in both airports.

The digital upgrade and replacement of core production systems will be conducted during the ongoing expansion of both airports, as well as the installation of smart applications.

Hongqiao Airport has been covered by 5G networks since last November, and some smart applications are already in operation to improve customer services. Based on the 5G network, various smart operations, service and shopping scenarios are being developed primarily to improve travelers' experiences.

For example, travelers will receive more timely information upon departure or arrival, and additional self-service and non-contact services will be developed.

The airport's operational efficiency is expected to improve, while operation and maintenance costs will be reduced with artificial intelligence applications. Big data collected via 5G networks will contribute to operation and decision-making systems.

Information technologies have been widely used during the coronavirus pandemic. Digital management and information sharing initiatives have improved the efficiency of airport employees, and medical workers prevent the entry of those who test positive for COVID-19.

Wusong Smart City

Shanghai’s erstwhile iron-steel industry base in northern Baoshan District is being transformed into the “main front” of the city’s global scientific innovation center.

The Wusong area in Baoshan District was home to the renowned Baosteel Group and more than 300 other metal refineries and chemical engineering plants dating back to the 1930s.

Most of the factories have shut down or been relocated due to pollution problems. The 26-square-kilometer site will be transformed into the Wusong Smart City, a sub-center with new material and hardware industries, scientific and cultural innovation parks, commerce and business facilities, residential communities and waterfront attractions.

The smart city was once home to the city's earliest iron-steel plants — the No. 1 and No. 5 Shanghai Steel Factory — and later became the core production base of Baosteel. Chairman Mao Zedong and former leaders Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin visited the site.

The redevelopment project aims to become a demonstration for the transformation of old industrial bases across the country, as well as a gathering place for innovation, entrepreneurship and tourism.

The future Wusong Smart City will have a park at its core along with a business center in the Yanghang area, and a cultural center on the waterfront of the Yangtze River, according to the blueprint.

In the neighboring Luodian Town, a MEDIPARK developed by Guosheng Industrial Transformation Capital, is scheduled to open in September 2022. It will cover 130,000 square meters and house around 100 biomedical companies, with total annual tax revenue of more than 100 million yuan. The annual production value will be more than a billion yuan, and 1,000 people are expected to work there.

The project's first phase will focus on biomedical products, medical equipment and new medicines. A vaccine production line developed by Shanghai Pharma and CanSino with a total investment of 400 million yuan will be able to produce 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine a year.

Another key project, the Huanshangda, or Shanghai University-Rim Industrial Park, has officially opened in the Lingang Innovation Galaxy Scientific Oasis in Dachang Town. Covering 57 square kilometers, it features Dachang, Baoshan Urban Industry Park and Nanda Smart City.

The park is centered around transforming scientific research, incubating science-based startups and cultivating professionals.

Also in Baoshan, a BeiDou Navigation Satellite System project has been launched to develop space-based Internet of Things communications technology.

The Tianxun Project, China’s first low-cost civil constellation for communication, navigation and remote-control, will launch 72 satellites within three years for IoT communications across the globe. The network will cover more than 80 percent of land and 95 percent of sea areas, including many regions that cannot be covered by current cellular networks.

New software hub in Qingpu

As a landmark project in the emerging software hub in Qingpu District, the Shanghai Caohejing Zhaoxiang Business Park has completed nearly 90 percent of its planned construction area of 1 million square meters. The first batch of riverfront offices will be available for use in June, according to a district report.

The business park, with a total investment of 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion), is a cooperative project between Shanghai Caohejing High-Tech Park and Qingpu’s Zhaoxiang Town. The town has earmarked about 500 mu (33 hectares) of land for construction of the park focusing on the development of chips, new materials and smart robots.

About 130 enterprises have registered in the park, more than half of them high-tech and related to the digital economy. Despite COVID-19, the park had seen its revenue growing continuously over the past three years since construction began. Total tax turnover by the end of 2020 had reached 260 million yuan.

Another high-profile software park in the making lies to the immediate south of the business park. Shixi Software Park will eventually cover an area of more than 5,000 mu, with a core area spanning 1.5 square kilometers. It will focus on the development of big data, cloud computing, industrial software, integrated circuits and smart chips.

The park is expected to generate an operating income of 150 billion yuan by 2025. An official report released on Tuesday shows 53 enterprises had registered in the park by the end of March.

The two parks oriented toward software development are part of Qingpu’s overall “digital artery” along the G50 Highway. To their west will be Huawei’s R&D center. To their east is a core area of the Hongqiao International Opening-up Hub to be completed by 2035 with a total area of 7,000 square kilometers, covering parts of Shanghai and nearby regions.

The “digital artery” also lies at the heart of the green and integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta Region. It passes through west Shanghai as well as parts of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces, where there are many booming manufacturing businesses. The software products developed in west Shanghai will go a long way to help upgrade those businesses with digital technology.

Early in February, Shanghai announced it will strive to build itself into an international digital economy hub by 2022.

As yet there is no universal definition of a digital economy.

According to one explanation, digital economy is economic activity that results from everyday online connections among people, businesses, devices, data, and processes. The backbone of the digital economy is hyperconnectivity that results from the Internet, mobile technology and the Internet of Things.

Zhangjiang in the Pudong New Area has been a digital economy pioneer. Now, on the wings of the national strategies of further opening-up and integrated growth of the Yangtze River Delta region, Qingpu in west Shanghai is throwing its weight behind building a new software hub, hence the saying: “In the east there’s Zhangjiang; in the west, there’s Zhaoxiang.”