SCMP has a great story today about Shenzhen’s use of data in governing the city. Read it yourself. Some might think this is all too Orwellian; others will applaud the innovative thinking. Here are some of the highlights:

• It’s all about better governance
• Although the city has an official population of 13 million, it has recorded more than 22 million “population data sets”
• The city has only 40,000 civil servants, 25,000 of whom are police officers
• Around 2 million cameras are in use
• Nearly 80% of crimes are solved with the use of videos and data analysis
• Quote: “Now we have a standardized, scientific and quantifiable method for measuring the quality of Party building.”

US President John F. Kennedy had the Peace Corps. Shenzhen has the Southern Young Entrepreneurs Plan.

According to a joint announcement by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation and the Shenzhen Youth Federation, the city will send out what could only be described as tech missionaries to countries in need of entrepreneurial skill development.

With a particular focus on “green tech”, the mission’s objective is to train no fewer than 10,000 people in developing countries over the next five years, equipping them with the skills they need to jump-start their countries’ scientific and technological innovation bases. 

Jorge Chedick, Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, and Chen Daixing, representative of the Shenzhen Youth Federation of China, announced the launch of the plan at the United Nations Youth Climate Summit held at UN Headquarters in New York.

Chedick said the program will provide “one-stop” support for young entrepreneurs in developing countries, improving their knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship, finance, innovation and digital technology, and supporting them to help reduce carbon emissions.

Chen Daixing said that in the past 40 years, young entrepreneurs have been the main force in Shenzhen’s transformation from a small fishing village to a technology center. He believes that Shenzhen, with the power of young entrepreneurs, can provide “Chinese wisdom” for the UN to promote sustainable development goals.

The project will conduct two training sessions in Asia and Africa this year, starting with a focus on digital payments and entrepreneurship.

Robotaxis are passé. Unmanned aerial vehicles are a crowded space. Self-guided ships seem like the next natural frontier of development in autonomous vehicles – and one in which Zhuhai appears determined to take the lead.

The country’s first unmanned ship R&D and testing base, the Xiangshan Marine Science and Technology Port, was officially completed recently and is expected to open before the end of the year. According to Nanfang Daily, the base will become a “public technology service and innovation incubation platform” for the design, research and development of marine-based unmanned systems and intelligent equipment.

Continue reading Unmanned ships on the way →