Rethinking approaches to networks and computing is critical as we move towards an intelligent world, says the president of Huawei's Institute of Strategic Research, Zhou Hong.
Digital economy is redefining productivity, driving a shift from quantity to quality, according to Huawei chief financial officer and deputy chair Sabrina Meng.
Speaking at the 20th annual Huawei global analyst summit held in Shenzhen, China, Meng called for continued cooperation across value chains in digital transformation, but warned about the disruptions to resource supplies that could impact innovation and economic growth.
The conference aims to discuss the status of the ICT industry, including development strategies, road maps for digital transformation, and future industry trends.
“The principles we have come to know and trust are being disrupted or revised, which will have a direct impact on industrial innovation and economic development,” Meng said.
She said the time was right to thrive with digital and that digital technology was redefining productivity and driving a shift from quantity to quality, gradually becoming the key to social economic development.
Meng said the digital shift was an opportunity and a challenge for the sector, as any successful transformation must be driven by strategy, not technology.
According to Meng, digitalisation was a blue ocean for the whole industry.
“Huawei will keep investing in domains like connectivity, computing, storage, and cloud. We aim to provide our customers with a digital infrastructure that has the simplest possible architecture with the highest possible quality – that delivers the best possible experience at the lowest possible costs.
“Our goal is to help organisations go digital in four stages: digitising operations, building digital platforms, enabling platform-based intelligence, and putting intelligence to use. The time is ripe to thrive together in this new and exciting digital future,” she said.
Another speaker, the president of Huawei's Institute of Strategic Research, Zhou Hong, shared Huawei's hypotheses and visions for a future intelligent world.
“Rethinking approaches to networks and computing is critical as we move towards an intelligent world.
“In networking, we have what it takes to move beyond the limits of Shannon's theorems – as well as applications of his theory – to drive a 100-fold increase in network capabilities over the next decade.
“In computing, we will move towards new models, architectures, and components, and improve our ability to both understand and control intelligence. We will also continue to explore the use of AI for industry applications, science, and more.”
On artificial intelligence (AI), Hong said the goals of AI must be defined and aligned. “As AI’s capabilities are improving rapidly, we need to consider how to make sure the development of AI is what people want and ensure AI execution is accurate and efficient. We must create rules and laws to enhance AI ethics and governance.”
He said from a theoretical and technical perspective, these goals present three major challenges: AI goal definition, accuracy and adaptability, and efficiency.
“If we don’t have an agreed-upon definition, it’s almost impossible to ensure that the goals of AI and human beings will be aligned. It also makes it difficult to make reasonable classifications and computations,” he said.
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