New digital alliance and platform debuts in Shanghai

A computing capabilities alliance and several public information service platforms, issued by China Unicom, were founded on Friday in Shanghai, which fit well with the national and city blueprints to develop an advanced information structure and digital economy.

The alliance, with members including the China Unicom Shanghai branch, the Shanghai Supercomputer Center, the committee of the Lingang special area, Huawei, Alibaba Cloud, Baidu, SenseTime and Tencent Cloud, has been founded. It will enrich Shanghai's AI and information ecosystem and boost the city's digital economy.

"The AI computing resource is like electricity and water we use every day. It should be easy and affordable for all," said Tang Wenkan, vice director of the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization.

Wang Tianguang, director of the Shanghai Communications Administration, and Tang were present at the founding ceremony.

Earlier this week, China revealed the national-level Digital China blueprint to guide the country's development of the digital economy in terms of data, artificial intelligence, cloud, 5G and other innovations.

Shanghai Unicom also announced it would establish several platforms to support small and medium-sized enterprises and customized services for industrial and government customers.

In Shanghai, China Unicom's upgraded network, featuring 5G, cloud and AI, is used in many applications like digital twin, autonomous driving and enterprise digital transformation, said the company.