The 2019 World Internet of Things Exposition, which kicks off on Saturday and will end on Tuesday, aims to be a platform for launching industry trends, displaying technological results and promoting international cooperation, its organizers said.

The event, being held in Wuxi in Jiangsu province, comprises 25 activities of different types and attracts guests from more than 30 countries and regions. Gao Yaguang, vice-mayor of Wuxi, said this year's expo is more professional and practical than previous events.

The activities include a summit where important guests deliver speeches, an exhibition of IoT applications and products, a news conference on new IoT technologies and products and 10 summit forums.

The ongoing exhibition covers an area of 60,000 square meters and among its themes are IoT communications, intelligent manufacturing and sensors, intelligent transportation, internet of vehicles and smart education.

Noted domestic and foreign companies showcase innovative products and solutions related to the IoT at the exhibition. They include Bosch, Siemens, China Telecom, China Mobile, China United Network Communications Group, Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent and Haier.

The exhibition showcases IoT application cases and offers visitors the chance to try related products. An online exhibition is also held on the website of the 2019 expo.

The internet of vehicles is a highlight of the 2019 expo. Traditional automobile makers, intelligent network vehicle companies, manufacturers of automotive electronics products, platform service providers and communication operators discuss new development environment of the industry.

The summit forums focus on intelligent manufacturing, smart sensing, industrial internet, information security of the IoT, big data, 5G, intelligent transportation and the internet of vehicles, intelligent energy and smart environmental protection.

A themed activity, part of the expo, was held in August to celebrate the 10-year development of the Wuxi National Sensor Network Innovation Demonstration Zone. It consisted of a special conference and a themed forum that summarized successful experiences, effective moves and problems, which attracted more than 300 experts, government officials and company representatives.

The activity also analyzed the development situation and trend of global network information technology and offered an objective estimate of the zone's near future.

An IoT job fair will be held on Sunday. Attendees are key organizations in the IoT and new-generation information technology sectors, nationwide high-level professionals and postgraduates from noted colleges and universities.

An IoT international technology transfer conference will also take place on Sunday. It will witness the signing of technological transfer projects, project promotion meetings and an IoT technology and industry development forum. It aims to promote cooperation among IoT innovation entities internationally and help transfer and commercialize technologies.

To promote the expo, a news conference was held in Beijing in early July. Wang Weiming, deputy head of the science and technology department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said: "The Wuxi National Sensor Network Innovation Demonstration Zone has played a leading and exemplary role in helping IoT development throughout the country."

Revenue of Wuxi's IoT industry exceeded 260 billion yuan ($36.8 billion) in 2018 and the city has built a relatively complete IoT industry system, Wang said.

songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn

What they say

As an important support method for the development of the digital economy, the internet of things plays a significant role in promoting industrial transformation and upgrading as well as energy saving. It also brings unprecedented opportunities for economic and social development. It's necessary for the IoT industry to persist in innovation development, stimulate internal potential and fully integrate different resources to promote its development.

Miao Wei, minister of industry and information technology

As IoT applications have been widely used, information security now needs to step forward into its terminals. IoT security is much more practical when more entities become involved. The more fields IoT can tap into, the more emphasis will be placed on security. IoT technology can promote the development of China's entire finance industry, giving the country a greater voice in issues related to the global financial system.

Liu Haitao, director of the Wuxi IoT Industry Research Institute

Wuxi should lead the development of the national IoT industry and attract more cities to join the industry. With the participation of more cities, the industry can be more mature. With advantages of low latency, high reliability and wide bandwidth, the 5G wireless technology will help explore new possibilities of the IoT.

Wu Hequan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering

IoT nodes will see an exponential increase in the near future, following the explosive growth of data, huge energy consumption and information security problems. These challenges must be tackled by increased investment in core technology development, in which State-owned enterprises should play a major role.

Chen Dapeng, head of the Jiangsu R&D Center for IoT

(China Daily 09/07/2019 page19)