Shining star of the tech that transforms

Guizhou province — oh, what a transformation it has witnessed! Technology can truly transform an economy in a short time indeed.

There was a time when the southwestern province evoked mental images of a remote, less-developed area — home to verdant mountains, ethnic minorities, and, wait for it, poverty. Not any more.

I first set foot in Guizhou’s capital city Guiyang last May to cover the 2017 China International Big Data Expo.

When I was there, I did find verdant mountains and ethnic minorities in local media images and stories. And I also found something extremely amazing: home-grown hightech that strengthens businesses and government services alike.

A wide range of digital technologies are applied in the province. Not only in the business sector but in the emerging e-governance sector and civil services.

I learn the advent of the high-tech sector is benefiting both the local government and the common people.

For instance, during the big data expo last year, Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of internet behemoth Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, unveiled a plan to set up, in association with the Guiyang Municipal Public Security Bureau, a joint block data center and a cloud platform project.

The twin projects will offer more robust computing power and smarter artificial intelligence algorithms, which will be used to improve a variety of public- and private-sector services.

For instance, with the help of cloud computing and artificial intelligence technologies, cars featuring fake licenses will be identified automatically, according to the Guiyang Municipal Public Security Bureau.

In 2016, with the use of big data analysis, crimes like burglaries and robberies in Guiyang dropped by almost 6 percent.

Li Zaiyong, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and the secretary of the CPC Guiyang Municipal Committee, said during the first Digital China Summit held in