From October 13 to October 16, the World AIoT Innovation Alliance (WAIA Alliance) launched two overseas exhibition areas and theme forums in Hong Kong and Singapore for the first time.
Previously, during the IOTE 2024 22nd Internet of Things Expo Shenzhen Station & AGIC General Artificial Intelligence Conference and Industry Expo on August 28 this year, the World AIoT Innovation Alliance (WAIA) was officially established in Shenzhen. The alliance aims to build an open, cooperative and win-win industrial cooperation platform to fully promote the research and development innovation, standard setting, market expansion and international cooperation of AIoT technology, help smart IoT enterprise groups quickly connect AIoT institutions and important corporate organizations in various countries and regions around the world, and realize the sharing and construction of global resources, channels, talents and ecology, and attract AIoT associations from more than 15 countries and regions such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan, China to join the alliance.
In order to further exchange the development characteristics and cooperation needs of AIOT industries in various countries and regions, and continue to promote the implementation of WAIA in major overseas markets, the first WAIA overseas booth area and theme forum were organized by the Chairman of the Hong Kong Internet of Things Chamber of Commerce, Zhuang Yijian. The booth area is located in the Hong Kong Electronic Fair – Autumn Edition, which brings together smart IoT companies from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and various countries and regions to jointly display new IoT applications in the era of artificial intelligence. It also invites important guests from the fields of artificial intelligence and IoT and enterprises and institutions in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Ningbo, Zhuhai and other places to discuss industry-related hot topics and jointly expand opportunities for group overseas expansion. During the exhibition, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, Chen Baili, visited the IoT exhibition area many times to learn about the products and applications of each exhibitor in detail, and put forward corresponding opinions to encourage exhibitors to develop better.
01 New Trend of AIoT: Embracing Global Industrial Integration, WAIA Accelerates Preparation
Nowadays, the digitalization and intelligent transformation of thousands of industries has become an irreversible new trend in the global market, and AIoT (AI + IoT) has become a key tool for various industries to achieve this transformation, showing a strong and optimistic growth opportunity. Intelligent Internet of Things (AIOT) is a research model for the integration of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, which can be regarded as a new and in-depth form of Internet of Things application. Among them, IoT (Internet of Things) is the infrastructure of AIOT. Based on its ubiquitous network communication infrastructure, sensors and smart terminals, it can effectively realize the intelligent interconnection of man-machine-object, and the intelligent operation of data collection-analysis-decision-making, and thus become the cornerstone of the digital construction of thousands of industries and the upgrading of smart city construction, and also accelerate the rapid development of new industries such as computing centers, smart wearables, smart robots, and unmanned driving.
With the continuous integration and evolution of the global digital economy, the AIoT market at home and abroad is also showing the characteristics of mutual integration, redivision of labor, and common development. In this wave of global industrial upgrading, Chinese Internet of Things companies have undoubtedly become the first echelon in the international market and the main camp of innovative applications and market share. Corresponding to the vitality and growth opportunities of the AIoT industry are the external environmental challenges that cannot be ignored today: in the current international environment of complexity, changeability and increasing uncertainty, how to more effectively promote the integration of the AIoT industry and the flow of information on a global scale, and expand the all-round and in-depth communication, market promotion and innovation opportunities between Chinese IoT companies and the international market, has become a particularly critical issue for the current industrial development.
In response to these new trends, new opportunities and new challenges, WAIA's first overseas theme forum (Hong Kong Station) was themed on building an innovative ecosystem for artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. It was hosted by Mr. Hu Weibin, Chairman of the Hong Kong Internet of Things Chamber of Commerce, and representatives of industry associations and institutions such as Mr. Yang Weiqi, Executive President of the Shenzhen Internet of Things Industry Association, Mr. Zhu Zhentian, President of the Ningbo Internet of Things Intelligent Technology Application Association, Mr. Fan Yeming, Executive President of the Shenzhen Artificial Intelligence Industry Association, and representatives of key companies such as Mr. You Zhujian, Deputy Director of SenseTime Technology, Mr. Yang Zhitian, Vice President of Southeast Asia Department of Super Fusion Technology International Co., Ltd., and Mr. Lu Yun, Director of Intelligent Systems of the Automotive Technology Research and Development Center of the Hong Kong Productivity Council, participated in the forum. They shared in depth the latest and hottest industry trends, market size, number of companies, profitability, and future project landing opportunities, vocational education opportunities, and domestic substitution opportunities in the field of "AI+IoT" in the Greater Bay Area and across China, and provided a large amount of detailed first-hand data and industry observation experience. At the same time, they frankly pointed out the pain points, crises and possible solutions faced by the industry.
02 Challenges and opportunities coexist: Hong Kong will become the first stop for AIoT to go overseas
In the first overseas forum of WAIA, senior industry guests pointed out that the revenue of some domestic IoT companies has recently faced a cliff-like decline, mainly because the digital layout of infrastructure in mainland China has been basically completed. Now the enterprise group has started closed-door research, planning and looking for opportunities for the next round of industry growth. It is generally believed in the industry that Chinese IoT companies have strong technical advantages, model advantages and product advantages in the current international market. Now is the right time to promote new opportunities for the industry to go overseas.
Looking to the future, Hong Kong, as the first stop for domestic IoT companies to go overseas, has unique window value and easier landing advantages, and has the opportunity to provide Hong Kong with a new city card of "new technology transformation" and new quality productivity based on the foundation of a large number of high-quality smart hardware companies in the hinterland of China. The guests pointed out: Looking to the future, all parties should accelerate the promotion of domestic IoT manufacturers to strengthen in-depth cooperation with their Hong Kong counterparts, and look forward to landing demonstration projects in Hong Kong.
03 WAIA's second overseas stop: Hong Kong joins hands with Singapore to escort China's AIoT industry to go overseas
On October 14, the Hong Kong Internet of Things Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong Productivity Council continued to organize joint exhibition groups and WAIA member units to go to Singapore to participate in the three-day 2024 Asia-Pacific Industrial Transformation Exhibition (Industrial Transformation Asia-Pacific 2024) held at the Singapore Expo, and launched the Hong Kong Internet of Things Pavilion (Hong Kong Pavilion), the main venue keynote speeches and sub-forum theme exchanges, aiming to fully display Hong Kong's new enterprises, new achievements and new perspectives in the fields of innovative technology, green sustainability and artificial intelligence applications. The Quadrant Think Tank assisted in hosting the Hong Kong Internet of Things Pavilion theme sub-forum.
By linking the resources of enterprises, governments and institutions in multiple countries and regions at the exhibition site, the Hong Kong Internet of Things Pavilion demonstrated an inclusive, open, innovative and dynamic industrial ecology, which not only provided a unique perspective and more possibilities for data platformization and industrial intelligence, but also committed to providing more platform value and resource link value for Chinese Internet of Things companies to go global.
On October 15, at the Hong Kong Internet of Things Pavilion, WAIA launched the second overseas theme forum - Building AIOT Innovation Ecosystem Forum (Singapore Station). Representatives from the Hong Kong Internet of Things Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong Productivity Council, Shenzhen Internet of Things Industry Association, Asian Automatic Identification Association, Malaysia Export Trade Office, Malaysia Internet of Things Association, iFLYTEK Singapore Office and other institutions attended and shared keynote speeches, jointly discussed the development of AIOT ecology, displayed the latest products and application solutions, and exchanged business opportunities and challenges in the ASEAN market.
Ms. Steffi SUN of the Quadrant Think Tank hosted the forum and witnessed the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement between the Hong Kong Internet of Things Chamber of Commerce and the Asian Automatic Identification Technology Association with the guests on site.
Mr. Zhuang Yijian, President of the Hong Kong Internet of Things Chamber of Commerce, and Dr. Anna Lau, Chairman of the Asian Automatic Identification Association, signed the contract as representatives of both parties. The two parties will give full play to the resource advantages of Hong Kong and Singapore under the framework of WAIA's global development, strengthen industrial alliances, and jointly promote the global expansion of the AIoT industry and WAIA organizations.
After the signing ceremony, the guests on site continued to exchange views in a relaxed atmosphere on the industrial development characteristics, technological trends and global cooperation vision of the WAIA Alliance in various regions of the world, and will continue to promote the alliance's continued outward expansion.
This paper is from Ulink Media, Shenzhen, China, the organizer of IOTE EXPO (IoT Expo in China)
