A visitor experiences virtual reality technology at the China International Big Data Expo in Guiyang, Guizhou province, in May. The expo was the first in the world to specifically use a big data theme. (Photos By Yang Jun / China Daily)
An industry park in Southwest China has become the nerve center of the burgeoning sector.
Last year, after he completed a bachelor's degree in computer science in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in the north of China, 22-year-old Song Jian made a decision that sent him in a different direction to his classmates. He headed south and landed a job in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.
"The city is famous for beauties, and I thought I would definitely find someone to love there," he said, with a laugh.
Song did fall in love, but not with a person. Instead, his affections were engaged by big data - a concept that is spreading nationwide but hasn't yet been put into widespread practical use - through his work in the Chengdu branch of Youedata, a tech company headquartered in Beijing.
Early this year, Song moved again, this time to the company's offices in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province. Although he has left the bright lights behind by relocating to a third-tier city, he believes the transfer will provide a promising future.
The Guizhou government has taken the initiative to promote poverty relief through the use of big data. In the past three years, the mountainous province has been transformed into an innovation hub by the arrival of leading companies, including Apple, Alibaba and Hyundai Motors.
In the first half of the year, the money generated by data utilization in the province was 5.26 billion yuan ($794 million), a jump of 64 percent compared with the same period last year. It was first time the local sector had registered double-digit growth, according to statistics provided by the provincial government.
Guian New Area, an hour's drive from Guiyang, is a 1,795-square-kilometer industrial technology park that is home to more than 400 companies in the big data industry.
"The park concentrates the world's top enterprises in one place, which will provide more convenience for cooperation and the development of business opportunities. It also provides more possibilities for the future," Song said.
