Deep industry-academia partnership explored to boost digital China

With data showing a shortage of artificial intelligence (AI) talents reaching 5.2 million in China in 2024, Chinese enterprises and universities are enhancing cooperation to seek deep integration in industry, academia and research, injecting new momentum in building a digital China.

Recently, the City University of Hong Kong Business School and a number of data elements and AI industry leaders such as Inspur Zhuoshu Big Data officially launched a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence for Business (MScAIB) program, aiming to cultivate more interdisciplinary talents in AI and business and contributing to the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Jointly created by the school's Department of Information Systems, the MScAIB project — as the first Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence for Business program in Hong Kong — intends to deeply integrate AI technology into business scenarios.

Dean Chen Jiale of the Business School (City University of Hong Kong), department chair Wang Chong, program director Ma Jian, and relevant leaders from Inspur Zhuoshu Big Data, attended the launch event on March 5.

Intending to boost industry-academia-research collaboration, and transform more laboratory research into teaching scenarios, Inspur Zhuoshu Big Data and the City University of Hong Kong have established a comprehensive collaborative relationship in the field of smart business since 2024.

By providing high-quality compliant datasets and enterprise-level software solutions, Inspur Zhuoshu Big Data has assisted Professor Ma Jian's team in establishing a commercial generative artificial intelligence laboratory, promoting the research and development of next-generation federated learning technologies integrating knowledge graphs and large language models.

Based on the latest research outcomes from the laboratory, the MScAIB curriculum has been constructed leveraging Inspur Zhuoshu Big Data's proprietary business data analysis training platform, which will produce more new-generation business leaders who can understand and utilize AI, said Liu Sizhen from the university.

Meanwhile, to address talent shortages — especially a prominent gap in business application talents — and seek an innovative industry-education integration model, the two sides can effectively combine the foresight of academic research with the practical implementation of industry, aiding in the establishment of a talent hub for AI in the GBA and activating new quality productive forces in the region.

The City University of Hong Kong, as a world-renowned institution, has always been a significant force in promoting the development of the global innovation and technology ecosystem, while Inspur Zhuoshu Big Data, one of the top five enterprises in the domestic big data market, has a wealth of data resources.

Inspur Zhuoshu has also developed a comprehensive capability system encompassing data collection, governance, analysis, and application through the National Engineering Laboratory, driving digital transformation across various fields.

Lu Daojun from the university said that with collaboration between enterprises and universities, and connectivity between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, the two partners can continue to deepen their cooperation, jointly constructing an open and collaborative innovation ecosystem.

Both sides aim to explore a path of deep integration and virtuous cycle in industry, academia and research that involves "breaking through academic frontiers — validating industrial scenarios — feeding back into educational systems," said Zhao Mengge from the university, stressing that it can thereby promote the continuous evolution and expansion of AI technology, injecting new momentum into the construction of a digital China.