The technology enterprises in the Greater Bay Area: pragmatic while thinking big
On Dec.7, the Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Forum was held in Guangzhou, China. Experts and scholars from industry, academia, and research, and representatives of science and technology enterprises gathered here at the Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Forum. As an independent overseas technology media, Dot Dot Stand was invited to attend the interview along with 36kr, Zaker, and Science and Technology Daily.
The Greater Bay Area, consisting of nine cities and two special administrative regions in South China, is envisioned as an integrated economic area aimed at taking a leading role globally by 2035. Backed by a complete industrial ecosystem, the Greater Bay Area has gained a unique position in science and technology innovation among the major international bay areas. However, the number of unicorns in the Greater Bay Area in 2020 was only one-fourth that of the San Francisco Bay Area, and the overall development urgently needs to get rid of the state of "low quantity and quality".
Juxtaposed by its Chinese counterpart，the San Francisco Bay Area is thriving with the propensity on information technology and biotechnology. Total Number of Patent Registrations by Technology Area in Silicon Valley is 20,640 in 2020. And largest cluster of higher education institutions with the top 15 colleges associated with software developer apps and social media query located in Silicon Valley.
In the Greater Bay Area, the output value of high-tech manufacturing represented by digital economy-related manufacturing accounts for more than 35% of the country’s share. There are also outstanding large companies such as Huawei and Tencent, and the energetic science and innovation ecology they have created. With such unique advantages, a group of technology enterprises has become more and more competitive. For entrepreneurs, is the Greater Bay Area the next land of abundance?
Origin Space: down-to-earth, looking up to the stars
Origin Space is the first Chinese private company researching and developing technology to enable space resource utilization. In comparison, Planetary Resources Inc., once a high-flying company backed by billionaires with aspirations to mine asteroids, only to later suffer funding problems, has been acquired by a blockchain company on Oct. 31, 2018. Last week, SpaceX was said to face a genuine risk of bankruptcy if it can’t achieve a Starship flight rate of at least once every two weeks next year, according to its CEO Elon Musk. SpaceX is not the only one that wants Starship to be a success, as NASA has chosen the Starship as the human lander for its upcoming crewed Artemis mission to the Moon in 2025.
While funding problems has always been an issue for a private company in space technology, Origin Space is finding a way in sustainable development. Its medium-term goal is to mine asteroids by 2025, and then large-scale mining will be implemented. Before the mid-term goal, it has a telescope with multi-wavelength astronomical observations and will simulate the process of multiple asteroids captured in low-Earth orbit. These related technologies can be used for space debris removal, space-orbiting satellite maintenance, etc. This business model is created to mine asteroids for the development and utilization of space resources, which have not only many technologies but also scenarios. The application scenario in low-Earth orbit space is also an important reason for our sustainable development.
When it comes to competitive advantage, its CEO, Su Meng said that technology is the first. The team of Origin Space is relatively international, with relatively comprehensive talents, and has a research and development background in related industries such as aerospace, astronomy, planetary science, and databases. A cooperation ecosystem of relatively large teams, universities, and research institutes has been formed in more than two years, based on the team members that have participated in the space exploration projects that Europe, America, and Japan have done before, and combining Chinese domestic engineers of different ages and different experiences in the aerospace field, as well as more early research and development.
Extreme Version: Pay more attention to needs that have not been developed
Extreme Version is a professional provider of artificial intelligence and computer vision algorithms in China. It has created the world's first computer algorithm mall-Extreme View Algorithm Mall, aiming to promote the upgrade of the technology industry through the innovation of several business models.
While many other technology giants embrace the metaverse as the next frontier of growth, Google CEO Sundar Pichai sees Google’s future in Value From Search, AI. There’s more need to organize information than ever before, he said. AI is not an isolated technology that can be applied surgically and waited for the magic to happen. AI is a tremendously powerful technology that will have far-reaching consequences for businesses and individuals when they realize its true business potential.
As a professional provider of AI, Extreme Version claimed that they have been focusing on the application of the long tail from the beginning. We are still very confident about the coverage of the waist and tail application, the accuracy of the algorithm, the cost performance, and so on. There is no need to do things that others have done very well, which is also a greater use of social resources.
At the beginning of this year, the "AI Thousand-Star Program" was proposed, which can help the industry develop 1,000 different new algorithms for free. It can further stimulate more demand in this industry because algorithms, for algorithms, are definitely not limited to our existing types, and there may be even millions of algorithms. According to Liu Ruoshui, partner of Extreme Version, at present, the technology is not universal enough that a model can solve all problems. At least this situation will continue 5-10 years, so our model still has its value. In the future, Extreme Version will continue to strengthen the construction of the underlying basic platform, optimize the algorithm development tools of the entire chain, and be compatible with more cutting-edge tools and method optimization models.
Silicon Valley, one of the Bay Areas in the world, at its core, operates as a successful center of innovation because of the amount of interaction and collaboration taking place, and it’s an innovative environment that continues to spur further growth and advancement. Now there is a great innovation ecosystem in the Greater Bay Area that consists of the government, companies, universities, and research laboratories. The environment driving innovation is now richer and more diverse than ever before and the Greater Bay Area is heading to one of the world-class science and technology Bay Area.
"R&D is in the close proximity to the market. By prioritizing the R&D investment, we can build a reciprocal relationship between the scientific research and the market demand." Fan Gang, President of China Development Institute (CDI) in Shenzhen said on the forum.