"Dawn" sustainable development, global computing network needs to "achieve the mission"
Author/ IT Times reporter Qian Lifu Sun Yonghui
Editor/ Hao Junhui Sun Yan
Special report on 17 May on World Telecommunication and Information Society Day
The Oppenheimer moment for AI
Von Neumann predicted that "the accelerating progress of technology will trigger a key singularity in human history".
The emergence of ChatGPT has made the arrival of the singularity seem to have a timetable. Optimists believe that artificial general intelligence (AGI) could arrive within 10 years. But can humans really coexist with AI? Just as the nuclear bomb became a key technological product that changed human history in the middle of the 20th century, AI is now facing an "Oppenheimer moment".
This year, the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has set the theme of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2024 as "Digital Innovation for Sustainable Development", focusing on industrial upgrading driven by new technologies, focusing on the potential of technology in energy conservation, emission reduction and environmental pollution reduction on the one hand, and the opportunities and challenges of industrial transformation and upgrading to the economy and society on the other.
What are the positive and negative sides of AI in a sustainable future? IT Times will report from the multiple dimensions of foundation, momentum, and fencing required for a sustainable future.
Andy and his parents invested in a farm in Zimbabwe, and couldn't stand the local slow speed of 2G signal, and the local fixed broadband cost was too high, in February this year he spent nearly $1,000 to buy a Starlink receiver to access the Internet, "There is basically no 4G signal in my place, and there are very few 3G, and it is rare to see people use fixed broadband." ”
A young man from Guangdong, Ah Liang, has been wandering the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific for many years, running a shop and employing five or six locals. He felt helpless about the high cost of local Internet access, especially the fixed broadband cost, which accounts for nearly 50% of the per capita national income, and such expensive tariffs are quite rare.
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Andy and Ah Liang experienced a completely different connection situation from China, which also reflects the huge "digital divide" that exists in the world today, including the "access gap", "use gap" and "capability gap". "Digital innovation for sustainable development" is the theme of this year's World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. But for many countries and regions, sustainable development can only be promoted by bridging the "digital divide" faster and better.
On the other hand, in some countries and regions with excellent "connectivity" performance, computing power is becoming the "water, electricity and coal" of the new era, improving the scale of computing power and optimizing the structure of computing power is becoming a new force point, laying the foundation for sustainable development.
Bridging the "digital divide"
Make connectivity everywhere
Without the "digital divide" and a good foundation for connectivity, sustainable development will only be a "flower in the mirror and a moon in the water".
In contrast to the United Nations' goal of achieving universal and meaningful digital connectivity by 2030, the current situation remains dire. The most glaring paradox is that 2.6 billion people are still "offline" around the world. Behind this, there is an "access gap", there are still many places without network coverage, and people have no network to access; There is a "usage gap", the tariff is too high, the burden is too heavy, and even if the network coverage is used, people "can't afford it"; There is a "skills gap", a lack of digital skills, which has led to a reluctance for many people to go online and do more work online.
However, things are looking for the better, with 100 million fewer "offline" people than a year ago, ICT services becoming more affordable around the world, and mobile network coverage expanding. Moreover, governments and enterprises in many countries and regions around the world are making continuous efforts to eliminate the "digital divide" as soon as possible.
Bridging the "Connecting Gap"
Solve the problem of "internet available".
In February, Andy left his hometown of Shanghai for Zimbabwe, an African country thousands of miles away, where his parents invested in a larger farm that grew tobacco and other crops.
After coming here after several twists and turns, the most uncomfortable thing for him was that the network speed here was too slow, most of the time there was only 2G signal, and occasionally switched to 3G network, and the 4G signal was "no trace", which made this young man from Shanghai unbearable.
Andy considered installing fixed broadband, but the farm is far from the city, which makes it very difficult and expensive: "It's a long way from the city center, and even if you spend a lot of money to drag a network cable, you can usually experience sabotage." ”
Difficulty accessing the Internet is a common problem here. According to data released by Data Reportal, in January 2014, there were 5.48 million Internet users in Zimbabwe, accounting for 32.6% of the total population, far below the global average. That is, here 2/3 of the population is "offline".
The "connectivity gap", i.e., the low level of network coverage, is an important reason for the large size of the "offline" population here. Zimbabwe has 5,000 mobile base stations after three operators, Econet, NetOne, and Telecel Zimbaw, deployed 363 new base stations in the quarter, according to the Zimbabwe Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ) in the second quarter of last year. Zimbabwe covers an area of about 390,000 square kilometers, which is the same as Yunnan Province, and in 2023, the total number of mobile communication base stations in Yunnan Province will be 424,000, more than 80 times that of Zimbabwe.
Source: Unsplash
As a last resort, Andy had to "find another way", and after several twists and turns, he found a seller who sold Starlink, and spent $900 on the receiving equipment, which cost tens of dollars a month. The Starlink service is actually banned in Zimbabwe, but he can't do that much, roaming to log in with the account of a neighboring country. "After the test, 100Mbps, there is basically no problem with watching videos online, but compared with domestic gigabit broadband, the gap is still obvious." Andy said.
However, change is happening, with Africa's mobile network coverage becoming more extensive and the same upgrade towards 5G. As of the third quarter of last year, 27 operators in Africa have launched 5G commercial services, including one in Zimbabwe. Andy hopes to use 5G or 5G FWA services as soon as possible to stay connected to the outside world and enrich life.
Bridging the "Usage Gap"
Make the Internet more affordable for more people
A native of Cantonese, Ah Liang has been in the hardware business in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific for many years, employing five or six locals.
As for the local communication tariff, Ah Liang's feeling is "expensive". "The cheapest plan costs 650 yuan (about 554 yuan) per month, and you have to pay about 4,000 yuan for the terminal at once, with only 30GB of data available, and the speed is relatively slow, up to 50 Mbps." If you go with an unmetered plan, it's even more expensive. ”
Locals pay their wages on a weekly basis, "My ordinary employees here are paid five or six hundred yuan a week. Compared to their income, communication tariffs are really not cheap. ”
图源:pexels
The report released by the ITU also shows that the cost of communication in Solomon is relatively high, especially fixed broadband, and ordinary people really "cannot afford it". ITU data shows that the cost of using fixed broadband in Solomon accounts for 49.71% of per capita national income. In other words, people have to pay nearly half of their income to use fixed broadband.
Because of this, internet penetration in the Solomon Islands is relatively low, with more than half of the population still "offline".
Jamaica, on the other side of the Indian Ocean, is a different story.
Jamaica is an island nation in the Caribbean, the home of Usain Bolt the "Flying Man" and a rich producer of "Blue Mountain Coffee". Liu Linpeng, 29, from Zunyi, Guizhou Province, was introduced by an acquaintance to Jamaica five years ago and worked in a Chinese-owned supermarket in the Clarendon district, where he worked as a cashier, salesperson, delivery clerk and so on.
According to Data Reportal, Jamaica's internet penetration rate was 85.1 per cent at the start of the year, far exceeding the global average of 66 per cent. This kind of performance exceeded many people's expectations.
Liu Linpeng has a personal experience of this, and in the past five years, he has felt two significant changes. The first is the increase in income, his average monthly income has increased from 800 US dollars to 2,000 US dollars, and the average weekly income of local workers has increased from 7,000 Jamaican dollars (about 324 yuan) to 16,000 Jamaican dollars (about 739 yuan). The second is the continuous improvement of the network level here, from 3G to 4G.
"Users can choose 'voice packet' and 'data packet' to communicate. For example, there are multiple grades of 'data package', 265 Jamaican dollars can buy 5GB of single-day traffic, which is about 12 yuan, and calculated, each GB of traffic is less than 2.5 yuan. In addition, 990 Jamaican dollars can buy 7 days of 25 GB of data, and 5200 Jamaican dollars can buy 30 days of 80 GB data package. Liu Linpeng said. In the Caribbean, including Jamaica, there is also an imbalance between fixed and mobile broadband connections, with less than 10 per cent of the population connected to fixed networks.
Overall, there are significant differences in connectivity between Solomon and Jamaica, demonstrating the importance of reducing the cost of broadband use, and that the "use gap" can only be bridged if broadband is affordable and affordable for users.
Bridging the "Capability Gap"
Enjoy the dividends of the digital age
Compared with the "access gap" and "use gap", the "capability gap" is often overlooked. In fact, it is equally important to bridge the "capability gap".
With the continuous improvement of the digital level of production and life, digital technology has gradually become a general technology, and at this time, it is important to equip more people with corresponding ICT skills, such as using the Internet to solve problems, creating content, and carrying out e-commerce transactions, etc., so as not to "insulate" from the Internet because they "can't use", so as to promote the sustainable development of the whole society.
In Mexico, Telecom America and GSMA have teamed up to train women weavers through Aprende, a digital education platform, to help them develop their skills, such as how to do digital marketing, how to start e-commerce, and more, in some of the most disconnected indigenous rural areas. After training in rural areas, these women weavers are regularly taken to community centres with free broadband connections to promote their weaving products online.
At the same time, some governments and enterprises are also actively creating digital tools that are easier to operate and more secure, so as to help local users enjoy the dividends of the digital age as much as possible.
"Mobile payments are also popular in Pakistan, but not on our side," said Jia Shen, who is visiting relatives in Peshawar, Pakistan. The AMA platform is an initiative launched by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Telecommunications Authority of Pakistan (PTA), with branchless banking (BB) providers, telecom operators, and others, to leverage digital technologies to provide fast, simple and affordable financial services to users.
After the launch of the AMA business, citizens with Pakistani ID cards can access digital bank accounts using their mobile phones with basic features, and more than a dozen different digital banks can be accessed with a simple digital code. By entering a 4-digit code, people can trade through these accounts, and it doesn't matter if the user doesn't have a smartphone.
Pakistan plans to increase the number of AMA mobile accounts to 20 million this year, up from 8.5 million at the end of last year, to enable more convenient payments for more people.
Unleash the "potential" of computing power
Stirring up "new kinetic energy"
In recent years, domestic operators have accelerated the construction of "dual-gigabit" networks, promoting China's connectivity level to take the lead in the world. Taking gigabit optical networks as an example, by the end of 2023, the mainland's 10G PON ports with gigabit network service capabilities have formed the capacity to cover more than 500 million households.
As the foundation of connectivity is solid enough, telecom operators have begun to adjust their strategies, increasing their computing power and other fields, and increasing capital expenditure. Because the situation is now very clear, computing power has become the source of scientific and technological innovation and an important engine to promote high-quality economic and social development.
The "small goals" will be properly accomplished
Computing power is no longer a pure concept in the technical dimension, but a major strategy sublimated to the national level. With the full opening of the digital economy era, computing power is injecting new momentum into the digital transformation of all walks of life in a new form of productivity, and has become an important driving force for high-quality economic and social development.
Computing power affects almost every aspect of the field of artificial intelligence, whether it is to implement complex models, shorten training time, or support real-time analysis and decision-making, and promote the innovation of AI technology, sufficient computing power is required.
As the main carrier of computing power, computing infrastructure is an important resource and infrastructure to support the development of the digital economy, and its importance is self-evident. Major countries in the world are increasing investment, and the mainland is no exception.
"Moderately advance the construction of digital infrastructure and accelerate the formation of a national integrated computing power system." The mainland has written the "national computing power network" into the 2024 government work report. In October 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other six departments issued the "Action Plan for the High-Quality Development of Computing Infrastructure" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"), which proposes quantitative indicators for the development by 2025 from four aspects: computing power, carrying capacity, storage capacity and application empowerment, to guide the high-quality development of computing infrastructure.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN TERMS OF COMPUTING POWER, THE ACTION PLAN PROPOSES THAT BY 2025, THE SCALE OF COMPUTING POWER WILL EXCEED 300EFLOPS, AND THE PROPORTION OF INTELLIGENT COMPUTING POWER WILL REACH 35%. Calculated, the compound annual growth rate is more than 30%.
At the press conference on the development of industry and information technology in the first quarter held in April this year, relevant people from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology introduced that by the end of 2023, the total scale of computing power in mainland China will reach 230EFLOPS, that is, 230 exascale floating point operations per second, ranking second in the world. Throughout 2023, the scale of computing power in mainland China will increase by 50EFLOPS, and at this rate, the "small goal" of computing power of more than 300EFLOPS in 2025 can be properly completed.
Source: Oriental IC
Intelligent computing power has attracted particular attention, and the Action Plan proposes that by 2025, intelligent computing power will account for 35% of the total computing power, with a calculated scale of about 105 EFLOPS. By 2023, the scale of intelligent computing power in mainland China has reached 70EFLOPS, and it is showing a rapid growth trend of more than 70%, and there is no doubt about completing the "small goal".
Relevant statistics show that by the end of 2023, there will be nearly 130 projects with "intelligent computing centers" across the country. Telecom operators are the main force in the construction of computing infrastructure and are accelerating the construction of intelligent computing centers in clusters of over 10,000 cards. Two months ago, e Cloud Shanghai Lingang domestic Vanka computing power pool was officially opened, which is the first domestic single-pool Vanka liquid-cooled computing power cluster in China to be officially put into operation, and it is also the industry's leading national public intelligent computing center for the integration of cloud and intelligence, which will help solve the sustainable development problem of domestic large-scale model enterprises. China Mobile also announced not long ago that it will commercialize three independent and controllable 10,000 card clusters this year, and China Unicom's first 10,000 card cluster will be built within this year.
Computing power should be "affordable"
Also "well used"
The mainland ranks second in the world in terms of computing power scale and first in terms of growth rate, but it still faces many challenges in efficiently transforming computing power into a practical driving force for empowering thousands of industries, especially the problem of "interconnection".
He Baohong, director of the Institute of Cloud Computing and Big Data of the Chinese Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said in an interview with the media that the challenges of "interconnection" mainly lie in three "to": "find computing power" and reduce resource costs; "Adjust the computing power", and the application transmission needs to be improved; "Use computing power", architecture adaptation needs to be optimized. For example, in terms of architecture, the interfaces and protocols of computing resources of various manufacturers are not uniform, and application deployment and operation need to be compatible and adapted to computing resources to slow down the efficiency of cross-subject deployment.
In other words, the integrated computing system needs to have two characteristics, so that enterprises can "afford" computing power and can "use it well".
As a highland for the development of artificial intelligence, Shanghai will also successively issue the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Unified Scheduling of Computing Resources" and "Several Measures to Promote the Innovation and Development of Artificial Intelligence Large Models" in 2023, in order to strengthen the overall planning, scheduling and sharing of computing resources in Shanghai.
The national integrated computing power system needs a strong network to ensure that the potential of computing power is released with efficient network connection. At the end of last year, the National Development and Reform Commission and other ministries and commissions issued the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of a National Integrated Computing Network for the In-depth Implementation of the "Eastern Data and Western Computing" Project, which proposed: 1ms delay urban computing power network, 5ms delay regional computing power network, and 20ms delay hub node computing power network in the demonstration area are initially realized. To achieve the goal, it is inseparable from the support of the three major operators, especially the arrival of the 400G all-optical transmission network, which provides a larger and more advanced channel for the rapid transmission of computing power. At present, the mainstream optical network technology of the backbone network in China is the 100G system, which began to be commercialized on a large scale in 2013. As a major transformative intergenerational technology that will open the next cycle of the backbone network, the 400G network has a 4-fold increase in transmission bandwidth, a 40% reduction in energy consumption per bit, and a 20% reduction in cost compared with the traditional 100G network, thus forming a high-quality and deterministic computing power network for computing power.
Typesetting / Ji Jiaying
图片／ unsplash pexels 东方IC
Source/"IT Times" official account vittimes
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