The Net Result

By Yin Pumin

Wu Hequan， an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering （CAE）， has a solution for the traffic jams that plague Chinas major cities. “In the era of the Internet of Things （IoT）， the Internet of Vehicles（IoV） is the most efficient way to address the problem，” Wu said.

IoV would mean all vehicles， equipped with mobile Internet and sensors， would have information on which roads are clear and which ones should be avoided as well as how to avoid the scene of an accident. In addition， smart cars could monitor their emission levels， select the best insurance companies， pick up groceries， and drop owners at airports. In short， IoV could transform a traditional car into the ultimate mobile device.

This and other benefits of IoT came under the spotlight at the Seventh World IoT Exposition in Wuxi， east Chinas Jiangsu Province， held from October 30 to November 1.

IoT envisions a highly technologically evolved world where objects of daily use， from fridges to cars and even buildings， would be inter-connected and able to respond intelligently through data collection and exchange.

In China， there is already a sophisticated IoT industry chain， starting with chips and software and ending in services. It is used in industrial production， communication， logistics， envi- ronmental protection， healthcare， security and power grids.

According to an annual report on the development of IoT in China in 2015-16 released at the expo， Chinas IoT industry was worth 750 billion yuan （$110.62 billion） in 2015， representing a compound annual growth rate of 25 percent in the 12th Five-Year Plan period （2011-15）. It is expected to reach 1.5 trillion yuan （$221.24 billion） in 2018.

“As the next industry worth more than 1 trillion yuan （$147.49 billion）， IoT is regarded as the third big leap in information technology， after computers and mobile communication， which will greatly change production and lifestyle，” Huai Jinpeng， Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology， said at the expo.

Li Qiang， Party chief of Jiangsu Province， called the development of IoT another revolution in technology after the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century and the Information Revolution in the 20th century.

The China chapter

The term IoT was coined by Bill Gates in 1995 in his book The Road Ahead in which he describes a future world driven by IoT. In 1999， the Chinese Academy of Sciences （CAS） began research on IoT.

In 2009， the Chinese Government released an IoT development plan to harness the technology for industrial upgrading. Ten action plans were drawn up and since 2012， a fund of 2 billion yuan （$295 million） has been allocated for IoT development annually for four consecutive years. By the end of last year， over 1，170 IoTrelated companies had been established. The 13th Five-Year Plan （2016-20） also includes IoT development.

Wuxi， one of the first cities to pilot IoT technologies， obtained approval from the Central Government to construct an innovation park in 2009. Today， it is a gathering place for IoT organizations and professionals with 53 public service platforms for IoT businesses and 40 research and development centers.

Li said IoT has not only brought economic benefits to the province and Wuxi， but also inspired comprehensive changes in traditional manufacturers thinking.

In 2015， the Chinese Government unveiled its 10-year “Made in China 2025” plan with a focus on intelligent manufacturing.

Ding Han， a CAS academician， believes manufacturing needs the support of information technology， materials technology and artificial intelligence. “Using sensing technology， IoT connects different things together to identify， analyze and manage manufacturing processes， which will improve manufacturerscore competitiveness，” Ding said.

Liu Jingnan， a CAE academician， said many enterprises have begun applying IoT or are planning to embrace the technology， regarding it as a new increasing point for their businesses. Companies such as Huawei， ZTE， Lenovo， China Electronics and the three state telecom operators—China Mobile， China Unicom and China Telecom—have adopted IoT.

ZTE President Zhao Xianming told Xinhua News Agency， “We will focus on developing smart city administration， smart transportation， smart logistics and smart homes，” applying IoT extensively.

The company has worked with local governments such as Yinchuan in northwest Chinas Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region， Jinhua in east Chinas Zhejiang Province and Huaian in Jiangsu Province to implement multi-module complex smart city projects.

Chen Jie， ZTEs Chief Information Officer， gives the example of the companys BluePillar smart street lighting system as an example of low-carbon， multifunctional utility. In this system， a single pole combines the functions of lighting， wireless communication， smart city information platforms and electric vehicle charging piles. It can also collect data on weather， transportation and security， while its large screen can be used to display information or advertisements.

The system， being used in metros like Shenzhen， Xian， Beijing and Nanjing， uses nearly 70 percent less power consumption vis-à-vis traditional lighting.

Wu believes that with the advancement of“Made in China 2025，” the fifth-generation （5G） telecom age will dawn， promoting deeper integration of the IoT industry and mobile Internet to broaden IoT applications.

Life with smart cars

Li Shijiang， a project manager with China Mobile， told Beijing Review that IoV is the trend in the automobile industry. “The application of 5G technology will promote the development of IoV and lead to unmanned driving in the near future，” Li said.

An ordinary car， he explained， has over 100 sensors. But an unmanned car needs more than 1，000 sensors. “With these sensors， IoV connects vehicles and public networks for vehicle-to-vehicle， vehicle-to-road， vehicle-tohuman and vehicle-to-sensor interactions.”

The technology enables the gathering of information on vehicles， roads and their surroundings， and information-sharing. The data are then processed， shared and released onto information platforms. Based on these data， the system can guide and supervise vehicles， providing other multimedia and mobile Internet application services along the way.

Han Xu， chief scientist with Baidus Automatic Driving Department， said Baidu will begin mass production of unmanned cars in five years. “Our unmanned cars will revolutionize Chinas automobile industry and make urban communication greener，” Han told Xinhua.

Statistics from the Ministry of Transport show that the number of automobiles in Chinese cities is increasing by 15 percent annually， while urban roads can be lengthened only by 3 percent.

“The contradiction has worsened the traffic in Chinese cities，” said Wu Zhongze， President of Beijing-based China Intelligent Transportation Society. “IoV provides an efficient way to solve the problem. By collecting information and analyzing data [cars will bypass snarls and] traffic congestion will be reduced in the future.”

Feng Ziming， a brand manager with Nanjing Sample Technology， a hi-tech enterprise， told Beijing Review his companys radio frequency identification and data-processing technology is helping relieve traffic pressure in some cities.

Take Nanjing， for example. The company has provided over 1 million identity cards to urban drivers in the historical city. From the sensors embedded in the cards and vehicles， the companys smart transportation system can collect information on the drivers， vehicles， their routes and surrounding conditions. The system then analyzes the information and provides the results to transportation departments， environmental protection departments or public security departments to take action and address traffic jams， air pollution or accidents.

Besides the traffic measures， many new business models are also growing from IoV. Insurance based on data and IoT technology is a typical example.

Currently， Chinas auto insurance market is worth about 500 billion yuan （$73.75 billion）， increasing at a 15-percent annual compound rate. However， the chaos prevail-ing in the industry has limited its profitability.

Liu pinpoints three chaotic aspects of the traditional auto insurance industry： a disorderly pre-sales system， confusing midsales prices， and chaotic after-sales valueadded services.

“By collecting and analyzing data， IoV can assess the real condition accurately and put auto insurance back on track，” Liu said.

Obstacles

“Although the achievements are obvious， Chinas IoT industry is still facing many challenges，” You Zheng， Vice President of Tsinghua University， said.

The first challenge comes from the lack of core technologies. According to Liu Haitao， Chairman of the World Sensing Net Group and a IoT chief scientist， China lags behind developed countries in research and production of chips， sensors and operating systems.

“Chinas sensor producers are normally small-scale. They seldom have competitive core technology. So 80 percent of mid- and highend sensors have to be imported，” Liu said， adding that Chinese IoT companies must take advantage of todays favorable market environment and government policies to develop their own advantageous technologies and brands.

Ni Guangnan， another CAE academic， said an innovative system combining study， research， production and application is urgently needed. “Currently， research in higher learning institutions and research centers is not connected to production， which limits the development of IoT technologies and their application in production and daily life，” Ni said.

The second challenge comes from the lack of coordination between different companies and regions.

“The number of leading [Chinese] IoT enterprises is still limited，” Vice Minister Huai told Xinhua. “Most IoT enterprises are weak in links like technological research， results transformation， equipment production and application management. Coordination is the only way for them to achieve further development.”

Many projects such as cloud computing， big data， Internet Plus， Made in China 2025 and smart cities involve different departments and regions， Wu pointed out. “How to coordinate[them] is also a big challenge.”

But perhaps the biggest challenge is security.

Wang Jun， General Engineer of China National Information Security Testing， Evaluation and Certification Center， said IoT security is an international problem.

In October， more than 1，000 websites in the United States were hacked， leading to their shutdown.

“The incident shows that there is no safe zone in the IoT era，” Wang said. “Today， IoT technology is extensively used in medical operations. It is inconceivable what may happen if a heart monitor or a device embedded in a patient is attacked by hackers.”