National computing network to synergize east and west

A worker monitors the smart platform of ferry services in Shanghai, on Dec 20, 2021. [Photo/IC]

Government authorities recently approved the construction of eight national computing hubs and 10 national data center clusters, indicating that the strategy to channel more computing resources from China's eastern regions to less developed yet resources-rich western regions is in full swing.

The project to build computing hubs in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Guizhou province, Gansu province, and the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, marks the completion of the overall layout for the national integrated big-data center system.

Given that the computing network is a new entity integrating computing and network functions, China has attached great importance to the construction of a national computing network. In December, the State Council issued a five-year plan (2021-25) for the development of the digital economy, explicitly proposing to build new intelligent infrastructure that integrates intelligent computing, universal algorithms and development platforms.

The national integrated big data center system will facilitate the development of the digital economy in which China's eastern and western regions work together, drawing on each other's strengths. As an economically developed region in China, the Yangtze River Delta region ranks first in industrial digitalization, digital industrialization, digital governance, digital trade, digital talent training and digital technology research and development. However, the region's computing network and related supporting facilities are still in a nascent stage.

Therefore, it is necessary for the country to establish a leading mechanism for the coordination and construction of a national computing network to strengthen communication among departments and formulate measures to safeguard and coordinate the development of data center clusters, intelligent computing centers and digital industries, and optimize computing network projects and the layout of infrastructure. On the basis of achieving differentiated computing resources cooperation and development, the coordinated development of a digital economy should be vigorously promoted to avoid vicious competition for resources and market.

The advantage of the huge digital economic scale in the Yangtze River Delta region should be given full play, with leading enterprises playing key roles. At the same time, more private capital, financial resources and human resources should also be encouraged to participate to give market mechanisms a role in the process. A low-carbon, green and energy-saving evaluation system should also be designed to form assessment standards for the construction of national computing hubs and data centers.