SOE using space, defense expertise to boost smart industries

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, a State-owned defense conglomerate, is using the expertise gained in the space and defense sectors to boost the growth of smart industries.

Liu Shiquan, general manager of CASIC, said at the opening ceremony of the 2019 Smart Industries Summit that opened in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on Tuesday that his company is taking advantage of its expertise and experience in space programs and equipment manufacturing to develop smart industries such as smart transportation and smart environmental protection.

He said CASIC has been taking the lead in promoting smart technologies in public sectors in China as the company produced the nation's first development plan for smart cities and fulfilled the first trial program of internet of things for local police.

According to a statement published by CASIC after the summit, new-generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and internet of things are merging with traditional industries and the emerging smart industries are transforming Chinese society into a "smart society", which was envisioned by the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017.

More than 10 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering took part in the summit and discussed smart economies and smart industries, the statement said.

Zhou Xiang, chairman of CASIC Smart Industry Development in Beijing, said his company specializes in planning and building smart cities, adding that through technologies, city officials will find it is much easier to solve many tough issues such as air pollution.

Zhou said his company has abundant know-how and experience in systems engineering, optoelectronics, sensors, equipment control, and data collection and analysis, all of which are essential in the effort to mitigate air pollution.

"We can offer different solutions to environmental protection departments for them to monitor and analyze emissions from manufacturing industries, vehicles and residential areas," he said.

Instruments from CASIC Smart Industry Development are capable of identifying every hazardous gas emitted by factories by analyzing their light spectrum. Four or five such instruments will enable environmental protection authorities to monitor an industrial park in real-time, for example, around the clock and with less manpower and lower costs, according to him.