Can Saudi-Arabia follow China and US as a leader in AI? – Winston Ma

 

Winston Ma

Winston Ma, an investor, attorney, author, and adjunct professor in the global digital economy, discusses at a Miami conference who can follow as leaders in AI for Arab News. He believes also countries like Saudi Arabia can follow those two leaders, although it does mean a lot of targeted investments.

Winston Ma is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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China’s road to the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL)– Mark Schaub

 

Mark Schaub (top right)

China passed in August 2021 its Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), comparable to Europe’s GDPR. China lawyer Mark Schaub has at his webinar a look back at the road to PIPL. The PIPL will be in force on November 1, 2021.

Mark Schaub is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your (online) meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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Self-driving cars: legal issues on data collection - Mark Schaub

Mark Schaub

Autonomous driving cars cause a range of issues, for example on collecting data to make them possible. Lawyer Mark Schaub looks at the legal issues when foreign companies have to send data to their headquarters outside China, for the China Law Insight.

Mark Schaub:

During the data collection, the sensors of the test vehicle generally will capture the images and information of other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists as well as traffic signs, traffic lights, road edges, traffic lanes, other infrastructure and landscape. 

Accordingly harvesting and analyzing data are key for many carmakers, auto suppliers and high tech companies. Moreover, international companies active in China will often intend to transfer all or part of such information collected in China to their headquarters or affiliates overseas for further processing, e.g., labelling, validation and function development, etc. 

However, both driving a car on China’s public roads to collect data through sensors equipped on vehicles (“Data Collection”) and transferring such data abroad (“Data Transfer Abroad”) may give rise to legal risks under PRC law... 

In China, surveying and mapping activities are strictly regulated due to issues of national security, concerns over demarcation of borders and state secrets. 

Surveying and mapping is defined broadly under PRC Surveying and Mapping Law. According to Article 2 of the PRC Surveying and Mapping Law, surveying and mapping refers to the surveying, collection and presentation of the shapes, sizes, spatial position and attributes etc. of the key elements of natural geography or man-made facilities on the surface, as well as the activities in processing and providing of the obtained data, information and results. 

The PRC Surveying and Mapping Law requires that surveying and mapping in China be carried out exclusively by entities holding a license issued by the relevant governmental authority. 

For the Data Collection, if only radar and cameras are used then the likelihood (in our opinion) that such activities will fall within the scope of surveying and mapping under PRC law may not be high. However, use of positioning units and/or LiDAR will likely lead to such data collection falling within the scope of surveying and mapping. The risk level will increase if the Data Collection is conducted by a foreign entity or a foreign invested enterprise (FIE).

Much more at the China Law Insight.

Mark Schaub is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Why big data are not the new oil - Mark Schaub

Mark Schaub

Shanghai-based lawyer Mark Schaub dives further into the legal consequences of self-driving cars. Big data - generated by cars - are not the same as oil, as some argue, he says. Privacy is a key issue, that did not matter to oil, he writes at the China Law Insight.

Mark Schaub:

Everyone is talking about data and how it is like oil. The above quote has been repeated by the Economist, newspapers, titans of industry and world leaders. 

However, data really is not like oil. 

Oil is ultimately a finite and diminishing resource. Its value is linked to scarcity. Oil has one basic use. Data has none of these attributes. Data and its uses expand exponentially. Indeed it is forecast that in the next two years, 40 zettabytes of data will be created – this is data equivalent to 4 million years of HD video. [1] Most crucially consumers of oil do not generally take matters personally. Data on the other hand, inflames consumers’ passion-how do I maintain privacy? Who has access to my data? How will the data be used? 

Big data is a focus area for many industries and the auto industry is no exception. However, with the advent of self-driving cars the auto industry will not only be a consumer of data but also a major generator of data. A single self-driving car could generate as much as 100GB of data every second. [2] 

Given that China has 217 million cars and the number increases by nearly 11% each year [3] this means the potential amount of data produced yearly would be far greater than the data held by Google.[4] 

Self-driving cars may not need oil to function (as most will be electric) but they will need data to be on the roads. Self-driving cars will rely on a massive amount of data to flow via various sensors integrated into the vehicles. The vehicle will need to know its precise location, its destination and also be able to keep track of everything while it is on the road.[5] Self-driving cars will also need to learn about their environment and the consumers who use them. The “smarter” self-driving cars can become, the greater the convenience for the users. However, the cars will need increasing amounts of personal data to become smarter and also to incorporate data results into the services.[6] 

Unlike oil the data generated by self-driving cars will not be a simple commodity that will be used for one purpose and consumed. The data generated will have great value to carmakers, mobile operators, insurance companies, restaurants, hotels and any other innumerable numbers of service or product providers that hope to interact with a self-driving car or its user. Google has built a $400 billion business on its knowledge of over one billion[7] users’ internet habits using their search engine for 1.2 trillion searches per year. [8] Imagine how valuable similar insights that are generated by observing billions of consumers’ behavior in cars for extending periods of time every day.  The potential for monetization will be almost limitless.[9] 

Data – great for companies, great for convenience, great for consumer experiences – but not so great for privacy.  Privacy concerns on the part of consumer have greatly increased in recent years with the growth of social media, internet and data hacks. Self-driving cars will amplify concerns and consumers and regulators realize how much data and personal information these vehicles will generate, use and record about users and the surrounding environment. Self-driving cars will be a veritable fleet of data factories. Such mobile surveillance will mean that privacy will be compromised … everywhere. 

As millions of self-driving cars are expected to be on the road within the next few years the issue of balancing the modern concern of privacy and the pressure to not hinder the next great industrial revolution will be increasingly pressing. A balanced regulatory scheme will need to be established to protect privacy on the one hand while still allowing the technology to develop unheeded by excessive government intervention.

Much more at the China Law Insight.

Mark Schaub is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at our meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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How WeChat is different in sharing data - Matthew Brennan

Matthew Brennan

Tencent's WeChat, one of China's leading data companies, might be easier in sharing data with the government compared to its Western competitors, says WeChat expert Matthew Brennan. But when it comes to sharing data with marketeers, the company is way more restrictive, he tells in Harvard Political Review.

Harvard Politics:

One of the app’s most popular features is WeChat Pay, a mobile payment service. WeChat Pay has “grown organically from micropayments to offline payments” as phones have replaced wallets in major Chinese cities, according to Matthew Brennan, WeChat expert and founder of the platform’s largest marketing conference. WeChat is betting on its nearly 200 million WeChat Pay users to expand its ecommerce services to include full-fledged mobile banking, a potential threat to state-owned and traditional banks. 

With a vast amount of data at stake, critics have often called WeChat’s privacy policies into question. According to Brennan, “In terms of government access to data in China, there’s government access if they [the government] request such access.” This policy applies not only to WeChat, but also to other Chinese platforms. However, Tencent is more restrictive than many U.S. technology companies in sharing data with third parties, such as marketers. 

Furthermore, user data from WeChat app usage outside of China is routed through servers outside of the Chinese mainland, and therefore does not fall under Chinese legal jurisdiction.

More in Harvard Political Review.

Matthew Brennan is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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The real force behind the sharing economy - Jeffrey Towson

Jeffrey Towson

The winner among the sharing companies is not the one who sells most rides, but the one who is best in collecting smart data, says Peking University professor Jeffrey Towson to the New York Times. “The fight is no longer over who has the biggest fleet,” Towson says, “but who has the smartest fleet.”

The New York Times:

Cities around the world have embraced the sharing economy — Seoul, Amsterdam, Milan — but China is the first country to frame it as a “national priority.” While innovation can’t be conjured on demand, Beijing has financed start-up incubators, offered tax incentives, formed think tanks and kept foreign competitors away. “This is state capitalism,” says Jeffrey Towson, a private-equity investor and a professor of investment at Peking University. “When the government gives the green light, everybody follows.” That includes investors. Mobike and Ofo, which are financed by China’s biggest tech giants, Tencent and Alibaba, respectively, have raised roughly a billion dollars each in venture capital. (Didi Chuxing, the ride-sharing company that bought out Uber’s China operation last year, is even bigger — with $5.5 billion in financing and 450 million users across China.)... 

Every time consumers scan the QR code on a bicycle — or basketball, handbag, umbrella — they provide information about habits, locations, behaviors and payment histories. That’s invaluable not just to Tencent and Alibaba but also to city planners seeking precise information about where to build roads, bridges and subways. “The fight is no longer over who has the biggest fleet,” Towson says, “but who has the smartest fleet.”

More in the New York Times.

Jeffrey Towson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Financial institutions: earning on data - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Online financial institutions like Alibaba's Ant Financial and Tencent are developing new business models, where they make money on the giant amount of data they collect. Financial authorities are stepping in, for the right reasons, says business analyst Shaun Rein to the China Daily.

The China Daily:

Ant Financial and Tencent, which according to iResearch make up the lion's share of China's 22.7 trillion ($3.4 trillion) mobile payment market, have just completed a weeklong battle in which they dished out generous incentives to lure users to their payment systems. 

Ant said in a statement that it will comply with the requirements of the central bank. Tencent said it will cooperate with regulators and other relevant parties to build a justified, fair and source-sharing platform for a nonbank payment network. 

"Online payments generate a significant amount of data that payment firms can use to their benefit," said Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group. 

"The government should really step up to limit their power and ensure financial security."

More in the China Daily.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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How Alibaba Pictures gets an advantage with big data - Jeffrey Towson

Jeffrey Towson

Alibaba is pushing into the entertainment industry. The internet giant has one huge advantage, traditional filmmakers can only dream of, says business professor Jeffrey Towson in the Nikkei Asia Review. "Alibaba is attempting to create a new type of smart production that replaces "big bets" with "big data"."

Jeffrey Towson:

Alibaba Pictures' cinemas naturally show a mix of the company's own films and ones from other domestic and foreign studios. Cofinancing and equity partnerships can play a role in this, as seen in the company's investment in Paramount Pictures' last "Mission Impossible" movie. Such partnerships are important because getting to international levels of quality has proved to be more difficult for Chinese studios than expected. 

Yet Alibaba Pictures is also making unconventional moves in distribution. With its Tao Piaopiao movie ticketing app, the company is subsidizing pre-release purchases. This gives it a two-week advance window to gauge interest in specific films and insight into what Chinese consumers actually want to see. The ticketing app in turn is linked to Alibaba Pictures' theater operations software, which is in use at some 70% of local cinemas for ticket sales, screen booking and other functions, further expanding the company's data gathering. 

Add to this distribution channels controlled by Alibaba Group, such as the Youku Tudou video streaming sites, the growing Alibaba Cloud computing service and UCWeb, a popular internet browser for mobile phones. In this way, Alibaba can see what hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers are buying and watching in real time. Compare that to to a typical film studio, which spends 1-2 years making a movie based mostly on a gut feeling and then hopes it will do well if there is a large marketing budget behind it. Alibaba is attempting to create a new type of smart production that replaces "big bets" with "big data".

More in the Nikkei Asia Review.

Jeffrey Towson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more experts on innovation? Do check out this list

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The end of the cable - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Light can transport data in higher volumes and speed than the current cable systems, shows an experimental setup at Shanghai´s Fudan University in the documentary "Smart China" at Discovery Channel. It documents how the massive data exchange at food chains in China can guarantee food safety. Our technology speaker William Bao Bean comments at the documentary.

William Bao Bean:

8´07": On the potential of data transported by led lights. "This has enormous potential, expecially in emerging market where much area is not yet covered by a tight network of copper cables." 

10´25: It allows great instore communication with customers, also on their personal devices. 

16´12: On increased food security at the logistical chains, where data exchange is key: Again great for emerging markets without good control systems of the many vendors and buyers, to get them connected. We already know Chinese consumer are willing to pay more for good food, so this should work out. 

22´53: the good thing, this is getting the consumers involved. They are no barrier to the introduction of these systems, but you have to pull over the other players too.

You can watch the whole documentary at this page, in Chinese, but the video is in English with subtitles. It also includes changes at health care, checking illegal parking by drones and the usage of liquid metal to repair nerves. It takes 43 minutes but is worth you time.

William Bao Bean is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

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Earlier this year, we discussed with William Bao Bean the very special organization of Tencent, now Asia´s largest tech company in market cap.

How Baidu became a leader in Big Data - Kaiser Kuo

Kaiser Kuo

As China´s largest search engine, it was obvious that Baidu has access to an enormous amount of big data. Communication director Kaiser Kuo explains how Baidu has been building on that main asset for Knowledge CKGSB.

Knowledge CKGSB:

Big data began in China much as it did in the West: as an effort to use the information that websites were gathering about customers to sell more products. 

Advertising an e-commerce are still the largest uses for big data. One of the earliest examples was Baidu´s use of big data in its search engine. "Search engines have been doing what is now called big data since the very beginning," says Baidu spokesperson Kaiser Kuo. "In order to have a good search engine, what you´re doing is massive data management." 

In addition to providing search results, Baidu made money by selling ads alongside them. Baidu would monitor what its users were searching for, and then charge companies for ads that were tailored to that activity. And, as the company´s big data capacities improved, it found it could tailor advertisements further. Says Kuo, "You can use that massive set of data and analyze it and figure out what advertisements are likely to be clicked on more. If we display more of those, the click through rate will go up and our revenues will reflect that." 

Since then, Baidu has expanded its big data efforts into other areas, including opening a Beijing Big Data lab under its Baidu Research arm.To demonstrate its big data capacities, Baidu has developed predictive programs for monitoring diseases like hepatitis, Lunar New Year travel, earthquakes, FIFA World Cup victories and movie box office successes. The company also has an open platform that allows developers to use Baidu´s algorithms to make predictions. 

Zhang and Kuo argue that Baidu is the leader in big data in China because of its massive amount of data and its strength in technology. There are even some aspects in which Baidu´s big data efforts are more advanced than US companies, like building large sophisticated models and infrastructure...

More in Knowledge CKGSB.

Kaiser Kuo is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´ request form.

Are you looking for more internet experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out our list here.  

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