Cross the informatization and data integration challenges

Recently, the industry has gradually raised doubts about smart cities, because cities in the past have struggled to plan smart city projects for a period of time, which can be described as overwhelming, but the results are even. What are the reasons for this? Where are the key difficulties in the construction of smart cities? The arguments are different. The reporter recently interviewed Zhao Yingshi, the technical director of Beijing Tongfang Software Co., Ltd., and learned that the smart city’s expected result is that the information system can draw a map of the city’s operation at any time, but now it is basically difficult to draw a comprehensive operation diagram. It is very difficult to integrate the data of the city's information systems. Only by integrating the data can we fully characterize the entire city's running situation and provide wisdom for the leaders and citizens.

I. The smart city can't cross the information stage

Although smart cities have invested so much, there are still people in the industry who think that smart cities are still at the conceptual stage. The reporter heard this statement: A personage inside the industry who won many smart city construction projects said that smart cities are still in the conceptual stage. They are just new bottles of old wine. Each local government office has used the concept to make money to do some traditional IT projects. , how to really fall out of the effect has not understood.

This statement reflects several major problems in the construction of smart cities. One is that the demand for traditional IT projects of local governments still exists. Traditional informationization has not yet been completed. In this case, it is still too early to talk about wisdom. Dr. Wang Wei, deputy director of the Center for Consulting and Technology and Evaluation of the Chinese Institute of Electronics, believes that local governments at all levels do not need to think more about the city’s intellectualization, because the promotion of wisdom is a false proposition. At present, some cities in China have not yet reached informatization. He asked in reverse: "If we do not talk about intelligence and intelligence without information, we haven't built an information system. How can we build the next smart system on the information system?"

The second one is the lack of funds for smart city projects. At present, the government does not have the so-called “Smart City” special funds. Zhao Ying stated that although the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development launched a smart city pilot city, it did not provide corresponding financial support. The financial resources of various local governments were already listed in the annual government budget. Each of them had already decided what to do. The smart city budget is not included. “We have met many city leaders and there are several types. One is to tell us directly that there is no money, the other is to allocate a small amount of money, but we want to do more. So to a large extent, the smart city project is It's financially constrained," she said.

Another problem is that data integration caused by isolated information islands and inconsistent standards is very difficult. Zhao Ying mentioned that Tongfang Software's goal of being a smart city is to hope to build a city operation center and provide a map of the city's operation situation. However, in recent years, because the data is in the hands of various departments and cannot be integrated, only one city can be drawn. Fields of operation. Some of the reasons for this are that the data between various departments is not open, and there are problems with business specifications and inconsistencies.

Second, data integration is the core proposition

Nowadays, some smart city projects are superficial, often mistaken for system integration projects, and it is true that some IT contractors are doing smart cities with systems integration thinking. According to Zhao Ying, the difference between system integration and a truly smart city project is whether the data is processed well and integrated. The essence of a smart city is to integrate data so that data assists decision making and makes cities smarter. If system integration is like building a house, then the work it accomplishes is to put the frame up. The blood that can flow in the frame, and that brings intelligence and decision-making value, is data. Only by integrating the data can you see the value of the data.

So, how to integrate data? Zhao Ying said that in this area there are some business specifications, not just technical interface specifications. The interface specification of a service involves business metadata, resource coding (one-for-one), and so on. It is to accurately identify each service data and have a unified caliber when it is integrated. Otherwise, it is difficult to achieve caliber harmonization. of. The above specification of technology is relatively easy because there are many protocols and open standards to follow.

In order to promote the work of data integration, Zhao Ying believes that relevant government departments can be called upon to do several things. First, from the legislative perspective, legal data should be used to ensure the rational use of data. Second, from the departmental mechanism, a management system and regulations for data sharing and exchange should be established. Third, establish a data transaction mechanism. Because everyone is aware of the importance of data and knowing that it is a resource, it can be used to generate value for this resource. We hope that some people will study and discuss this matter, even if it is to collect service fees on a monthly or yearly basis, or in what way to encourage everyone to share and exchange, and promote the integration of data in various departments. Fourth, use the necessary administrative tools to promote data integration. Because various mechanisms cannot promote sharing in some necessary areas and necessary areas, we must adopt administrative means to solve data integration.

Third, the government is not easy to see smart cities

Judging from the current situation, the construction of smart cities in China is mainly driven by the government. But if some governments do not have sufficient budgets or enough money to invest in smart city projects, do companies still fail to do these projects? What should companies do? Tongfang Software is actively looking for new business models and operating models for smart city projects.

Zhao Ying mentioned an interesting statement: Today's local governments look at smart city projects, not to see what the project is built on, but to see what value it can bring and whether it can promote sustainable urban development. Therefore, Tongfang also began to consider the use of technology and capital to consider the operation of local parks, revolve around the transformation and upgrading of local industries, support local enterprises, and speed up personnel training and employment.

Regarding how domestic manufacturers compete with foreign giants with smart cities as their strengths, Zhao Ying believes that Tongfang Software is leading or even superior to foreign companies, both theoretically and on the basis of integration with the government. It is the management of the city’s running signs that was not covered by other foreign companies before. What they did before was the wisdom of each piece, not the overall wisdom.

In her view, the current Chinese government has a high degree of trust in domestic companies, and the same side has developed a corresponding application system for smart cities. Personalized and customized software is more suited to the individual needs of different local governments.