The International Consultative Conference on the Future Economic Development of Guangdong Province 2017 (ICCFED 2017) was held on September 21 in Guangzhou. As a consultant, Dr. Hsiao-Wuen Hon, corporate vice president of Microsoft, agreed to an exclusive interview with Newsgd.com, explaining his proposal to the Guangdong Government and Microsoft’s future plans in Guangdong.

During the interview, Hon emphasized the importance of digitalization as well as an innovative ecosystem, and expressed his willingness to cooperate with Guangdong to help set up the South China ‘Intelligence Valley’ for AI.

Governor Ma Xingrui (R) met Dr. Hsiao-Wuen Hon, corporate vice president of Microsoft. (Photo: ICCFED official website)

Newsgd.com: What’s your proposal to Guangdong Government in ICCFED 2017?

Hon: My proposal lies on two points. The first one is about digital transformation.

I think this is a new economic form merging with the development of information technology. Thanks to the speedy development of information technology, great and rapid changes have taken place in different fields, sparking a digital revolution globally.

Microsoft has been working toward digital transformation in all industries globally and achieved much already. And we think it is certain that Microsoft and Guangdong can cooperate in this regard.

The second part is about the innovative ecosystem.

We are delighted to see that the government values innovation as the core of its 13th Five-Year Plan. We believe that it would help gather world-wide resources and enlighten the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Hence, I proposed that we should develop an innovative ecosystem including a good environment for technology exchange, enterprises’ innovative awareness and also optimized resource allocation.

Also, since the key to innovation is about talent, suitable preferential policies could be implemented to attract talent from across the globe.

Moreover, we also suggested Guangdong can take advantages of the current concentration of talent, industrial chain, and set up the South China Intelligence Valley for AI.

On 20th September,Dr. Hsiao-Wuen Hon,Corporate Vice President of IBM arrived at White Swan Hotel.(PhotoICCFED office)

Newsgd.com: it’s been reported that Microsoft has cooperated with Huawei to develop a cloud computing project in Guangdong. Why choose Guangdong? How about your opinion on Guangdong’s development in cloud computing?

Hon: Huawei is a world-leading service provider, and also a strategic cooperative partner globally. There is a long history of cooperation between Microsoft and Huawei. Recently, Microsoft and Huawei signed an MoU for strategic cooperation on cloud services.

With abundant advantages in location, market structure, preferential policies and talent training and reserve, in recent years Guangdong has been focusing more on Information technology and related industries including cloud computing, big data and AI, which have laid the foundations for the cooperation between Microsoft and Huawei on cloud services this time.

Moreover, Microsoft values Guangdong’s energetic performance in innovation and entrepreneurship, and has been working with governments at all levels in the province as well as enterprises, partners and developers in south china for the intelligent cloud, supporting the province’s innovative enterprises’ incubation, talent training, construction of intelligent cities and so on.

Microsoft has launched several projects and plans in the field of technological innovation in Guangdong. For instance, our company initiated the plan to build a cloud and mobile technology incubator in Liwan district of Guangzhou in 2016. The plan united Microsoft, its recognized operators and the Liwan district government to provide entrepreneurs space and support service in the fields as cloud computing and big data.

Newsgd.com: What are Microsoft’s future plans in Guangdong?

Hon: As early as October of 2014, Microsoft had signed an MoU with the Guangdong provincial government to launch deep cooperation in the fields of the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, IP protection in software and so on.

In future, Microsoft hopes to enhance cooperation with Guangdong’s government and Guangdong enterprises. We hope to be more involved in the province’s digitalized transformation, bring in more world-leading technologies and resolutions and establish a special ecological environment for intelligent cloud computing, furthering our cooperation with Guangdong’s industrial upgrade, innovative development as well as urban transformation.

We think that IT development and digital transformation in urban areas play a vital role in China’s future economic development. We are very willing to share with Guangdong our world-class innovation in information technology, and cooperate with Guangdong to co-develop high-end technologies in big data, the Internet of Things, block chain, AI and so on, to satisfy Guangdong’s and moreover the whole of China’s needs.

(By Nan Editor Olivia Simon)