The "Government Work Report" proposes to "improve the governance of the digital economy" and how artificial intelligence can be better integrated into the real economy

China Net Finance, March 10, 2022 (Reporter Xu Qingfeng) The two sessions of the National People's Congress in 2022 are being held in Beijing. During the conference, topics such as digital economic and social governance became the focus of attention in the industry this year.

In particular, in this year's "Government Work Report", it is clearly mentioned that it is necessary to "promote the development of the digital economy." Strengthen the overall layout of digital China construction. Build digital information infrastructure, promote large-scale application of 5G, promote the digital transformation of industries, and develop smart cities and digital villages. Accelerate the development of the industrial Internet, cultivate and strengthen digital industries such as integrated circuits and artificial intelligence, and enhance the technological innovation and supply capacity of key software and hardware. Improve the governance of the digital economy, release the potential of data elements, and better empower economic development and enrich people's lives."

It can be said that this top-level design document points out the way forward for how to correctly develop the digital economy and puts forward new expectations.

Under the wave of digital economy, artificial intelligence has penetrated deep into industry

Pan Helin, co-director and researcher of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center of Zhejiang University International Union Business School, pointed out when interpreting the "Government Work Report" that integrated circuits and artificial intelligence are the basic industries for the development of the digital industry, and the current proportion of the digital economy in GDP has exceeded 40%, which has become the most critical area of economic development in the mainland, and the development of the digital economy must be premised on the development of digital technology, so the basic industries in the digital economy are to promote the digital economy. It is to create more new products, new formats and new business models.

When it comes to the development of digital technology, it is necessary to mention the high-profile AI technology. After years of iterative development, today's AI technology has been more and more integrated into the industrial wave of social development, helping traditional industries to achieve digital transformation and intelligent upgrading. As one of the participants in the AI industry, Megvii Technology has also been committed to exploring how to promote the better integration of AI technology with the real economy.

Yang Mu, co-founder and senior vice president of Megvii Technology, said at the Zhongguancun Forum Open Source Innovation and Development Forum last September that looking back at the development of AI technology in recent years, it is basically answering 3 questions, whether AI is useful, where AI is used, and AI is easy to use. At this stage, AI algorithms are gradually maturing, and the application scenarios of AI will change from academic research to application landing.

To this end, Megvii Technology has tried in many aspects. For example, in view of the shortage of skilled workers in industrial manufacturing and the inflexible workflow of traditional workshops, the domestic head motor manufacturing enterprise cooperated with Megvii Technology to build intelligent warehouses through Megvii 3A intelligent logistics solutions (AS/RS+AMR+AI), connect logistics and production links, and build a "black light factory" with full-process automation, 24-hour non-stop production and operation. According to Megvii Technology, it can reduce production and operating costs by 33.5%, reduce product defect rate by 49.6%, and increase overall production efficiency by 79%.

In the logistics industry. From the beginning of artificial intelligence technology to the logistics track in 2017, after several years of vigorous development, the construction of smart logistics enterprises has initially tasted the "sweetness". In various scenarios of logistics, AI reduces dimensionality compared with traditional technology in data collection and processing. According to Megvii Technology, with the help of Megvii 3A smart logistics solution, the Guangzhou logistics center of Sinopharm Guangzhou Co., Ltd. has achieved digital and intelligent upgrading while transforming and producing. The overall efficiency of the upgraded logistics center has increased by 25%, with the average daily completion time 2 hours ahead.

In the field of shoes and clothing, compared with the old warehouse, according to Megvii Technology, the new warehouse of the Mengyan Intelligent Logistics Center empowered by AI technology can support a 5-fold increase in shipments per day, and the utilization rate of warehouse space is increased by 3 times, and the labor intensity of workers is greatly reduced. Fu Yingbo, president of Megvii Technology, believes that today's AI can not only help enterprises reduce costs and increase efficiency, but also create a digital workforce for society, and more importantly, the future development of AI technology will be the same as the role of information technology before, deeply integrated with various industries, and bring more far-reaching industrial changes.

The first mention of "digital governance", artificial intelligence should grasp the development and governance at the same time

It is worth noting that in this year's "Government Work Report", the term "improve the governance of the digital economy" was mentioned for the first time.

According to the Southern Metropolis Daily, from the first mention in 2017, the "digital economy" has appeared in the government work report many times, and almost every year the expression has changed slightly. In 2017, the "Government Work Report" proposed to "promote the accelerated growth of the digital economy", in 2019 proposed to "strengthen the digital economy", and in 2020 and 2021, it mentioned "building new advantages in the digital economy".

From "growth" to "growth" and "building advantages", to this year's "perfect governance", the description of the digital economy in the "Government Work Report" has changed year by year, which also highlights that the "digital economy" has entered different stages of development as society advances.

Judging from the hot events related to the "digital economy" in recent years. On the one hand, the in-depth application of AI, big data, cloud computing and other technologies does greatly improve social efficiency; but on the other hand, emerging technologies often have new problems and new debates in the development of a certain stage. At this time, administrative supervision and relevant parties need to work together to "prescribe the right medicine" to better promote the healthy development of the industry. It can be said that it is time to "improve the governance of the digital economy".

In this regard, some experts said in an interview with the media that improving the governance of the digital economy requires equal emphasis on standardization and development, and governance should fully ensure the healthy and sustainable development of the platform economy, and improve the level of governance by improving the rules and regulations, the development environment, and encouraging innovation and transformation.

There are similar voices in the industry. As one of the artificial intelligence enterprises, Megvii Technology has taken the lead in the industry to put forward the clear view that "artificial intelligence should grasp the development and governance at the same time".

Fu Yingbo said that artificial intelligence is both a means of digital governance and an object of digital governance. In practical work, we must also do a good job in the development and governance of artificial intelligence. To do a good job in development, we need to continue to adhere to the principle of innovation and fight the key core technology battle; to do a good job in governance, we need to carry out in-depth AI governance and algorithm governance work, and lay a solid foundation for AI governance ethics; at the same time, we must jointly promote the healthy development of the AI industry through multi-party participation and multi-co-governance.