Zhang qc (Unsplash)

Chongqing Data Governance 14th Five-Year Plan

Overview

Chongqing, one of China's four municipalities with a population of over 30 million, is undergoing a transition from a traditional industrial hub to an innovative, smart, and digital metropolis. Known as "The Mountain City," the core of Chongqing's digital masterplan is the Chongqing Data Governance "14th Five-Year Plan" (2021-2025), which is also the theme of this case study. This comprehensive plan utilizes cutting-edge digital technologies to transform the city, with the goal of creating a smarter and more intelligent living environment for its residents and organizations. Overall, this case study provides insight into Chongqing's smart city plan, current progress, and citizen engagement by extensively researching, translating, and interpreting important policies and recent reports related to the plan. A complete list of information sources can be found at the end of the webpage.

Key Characteristics

Development: The data governance plan of Chongqing clearly specifies the development of regulatory frameworks for the data factor market, the establishment of a data sharing and integration platform, and the upgrading of the data management and security system as the ultimate goals and key objectives for the city. This development strategy aligns with the development stage of the digital masterplanning process, which focuses on creating the necessary infrastructure for further digitization.

Engagement: As clarified in the stakeholder section, the key stakeholders of the data governance plan include multi-level governments, city big data application development departments, City Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd., and multiple technology companies. These stakeholders, along with the wider public and citizens, are actively involved in the execution process of the plan and have the opportunity to contribute to the city's transformation. The availability of beneficial one-stop services for citizens of all ages serves as strong evidence of citizen engagement.

Implementation: While the implementation of the digital masterplanning process is the stage where the plan realizes and executes the ideas, the three examples of technology interventions ("Elderly Care + Disability Assistance" service model, "Data Shield Evaluation Service - Western Data Transaction Center", "One-stop Service for Newborns") and the three high-level outcomes serve as valid indications of the current implementation progress in the city. Milestones in the development of essential infrastructure for data governance are consistently being reached effectively.

Goals and Aspirations

Improve big data development’s rules system and regulatory frameworks. Based on the "Chongqing Big Data Development and Management Regulations", create a comprehensive and professional digital rule system.

Enhance data integration and sharing effectiveness. Construct the big data resource center, complete the city's data map and information model, and emphasize data sharing and openness.

Boost data management and utilization timeliness and efficiency. Build the new smart city operation management center to achieve "one network for unified governance."

Promote the standardized development of the data factor market. Develop a basic framework for the marketization of data as an important production factor through a clear division of responsibilities.

Strengthen data security control. Establish a data security management platform, improve the ability to control data security risks, and create a safer data governance system.

Technology Interventions

Elderly Care + Disability Assistance Service Model. This service model primarily utilizes cloud computing and artificial intelligence to provide a variety of information on elderly care services. The smart community elderly care service stations are equipped with smart rehabilitation and activity facilities. They offer services such as meal and bathing assistance, medical aid, and home care for the elderly, promoting more precise, intelligent, and scientific community governance. The stations feature the "One-Key Call" system, which establishes a digital urgent care path for more efficient and seamless service delivery. Yubei District Smart Elderly Care Cloud Platform

Data Shield Evaluation Service - Western Data Transaction Center. This service is operated by the Western Data Transaction Center launched in Chongqing, with the aim of addressing compliance issues during data transactions. It is the first online quantifiable compliance diagnosis system offered by the Center. The service provides a one-stop compliance solution for both parties involved in the transaction, including a compliance diagnosis report, professional advice, and a data product registration certificate. This not only results in considerable cost savings for business transactions, but also effectively streamlines the entire data transaction process within the center.

One-Stop Service for Newborns. Starting from April 2023, the Shapingba District in Chongqing has newly launched a "One-Stop Service for Newborns" package service for parents, highlighting cross-department and cross-system data sharing. Through this service, parents can easily apply for newborn identification on the "Chongqing Fast Service" government platform without the need for in-person visits to multiple government offices. The online data system automatically retrieves relevant citizen information, simplifies the application steps and paperwork, and tracks the entire process for parents.

Stakeholders

Multilevel Governments.: The multilevel governments, particularly financially strong district governments like Yubei, Yuzhong, Jiangbei, and Liangjiang Districts, play a crucial role in the data governance plan. They allocate resources, provide funding, and facilitate the execution of the plan within their respective jurisdictions. Additionally, they ensure and supervise the policy framework and rules system for the data governance initiatives. Chongqing Yubei District Government

City Big Data Application Development Departments.: As the main body overseeing and implementing the data strategy and smart city infrastructure, the big data department is responsible for the overall coordination and management of the data governance plan. Chongqing Yubei District Big Data Application Development Department

City Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd..: This state-owned enterprise by the Chongqing Municipal Government takes the lead in urban infrastructure construction and real estate development. It provides necessary financing support, project management, and essential public-private partnerships for the execution of the data governance plan. Chongqing City Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd.

Technology Companies. Municipal governments are actively partnering with high-tech companies like Tencent and Huawei to accelerate the implementation of the data governance plan. These technology companies provide the necessary solutions and expertise to build smart infrastructure that integrates public services. They also assist local enterprises with digital transformation and cloud computing technology. Chongqing Yubei District Big Data Application Development Department

Leadership

Changan Zhou. Resource interview of this section - From Shangyou News The Director of Science and Technology Foreign Affairs Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Committee of Chongqing city.

Integration of Emerging Technologies. One insight from this interview is the integral role of emerging technologies in building the smart city plan of Chongqing, such as artificial intelligence, IoT, cloud computing, and big data. The incorporation of these technologies into transportation, infrastructure, and urban development showcases the government's effort to build intelligent environments. The Smart Railways No.24 Line project mentioned in the interview is the first fully automated driving railway line in Chongqing, and it is an example of how these technologies are being integrated into transportation, adopting ecological, green, and intelligent elements. In the future, a railway construction safety management platform, a subway lifecycle digital management platform, and an ecological smart operation service system will be fully developed to achieve this.

Investment in Multiple Sectors for Digitization. The interview reveals that the city plans to invest around 6.5 billion RMB in various sectors to promote the digitization development of urban Chongqing. Several projects, including smart municipal engineering construction, parking, drainage, and public park infrastructures, are introduced in this interview, highlighting the city's commitment to improving the quality of life for citizens by accelerating digitization.

Emphasis on Data Management and Monitoring. Within the planned implementation of the 52 projects mentioned in this interview, real-time data collection and efficient monitoring systems in intelligent infrastructures are crucial. These systems not only allow for the early detection of potential issues in the city system but also ensure the economic usage of resources. One of the key tasks mentioned in the interview is to speed up the construction of the Construction Information Model (CIM) platform in the housing and urban-rural development field, such as the Chongqing Railway East Station, for future data sharing between regional and city-level CIM platforms.

Financing

Special Funds. Multi-level departments of the city are advised to establish special funds to support and promote the digital technology innovation, data governance, and related work of the big data developement. One example of the special funds is named the "2023 Chongqing City Digital Economy Industry Development Special Fund Project", involving any sectors of software developement, information services, artificial intelligence, advanced computing, blockchain, and data governance. The applicant are required to be a company registered in Chongqing.

Collaboration with Financial Institutions. Financial institutions are encouraged to expand and innovate their services and financial products for entities in the data factor market. Government of Yuzhong District plans to expand the financing channels for digital economy. Banks are guided to accelerate the establshment of the "Yu Zhong Rong" platform and acheive intelligent matching between the financing needs of digital economy enterprises and financial institutions's derivative products.

Special Financial Policy Meanwhile, government of Liangjiang District announced a policy in 2023, "The Chongqing Liangjiang District Special Policy to Promote the High-Quality Development of Software and Information Services Industry" to provide special financial assistances for targeted entities. One point is that it will offer a maximum of 3 million RMB financial support to encourage large and medium-sized enterprises to accommodate innovations in software and information-related businesses". Another point is that companies selected into the list of "nationally key software companies" will receive a reward of 2 million RMB. There are also special policies focusing on absorbing more talent to promote the city data plan.

Outcomes

Integrated Urban Big Data Resource Center Project. This project consists of three essential components: the City Big Data Resource Center, City Information Model, and the "Mountain City Chain" Construction Program. The center will upgrade the government data sharing and exchange system and the public data sharing system, refining easy search, statistical analysis, application display, and other useful functions for the citizens. The CIM, which centers around the three-dimensional spatial data of the city, will integrate infrastructure data, such as buildings and railways, with relevant construction and resource databases to form an open and collaborative data resource system. Moreover, the program will build a modular and multi-layered blockchain public service platform that merges with the smart city's intelligent hub and provides blockchain development framework and resources to governments and enterprises via cloud services.

Data Fusion Application Project. This project aims to enable "One Network Management, Service, Dispatch, and Governance" for citizens. Specifically, this project will build a comprehensive urban management database for real-time decision-making and operational guidance and upgrade the "Chongqing Fast Service" government platform for more convenient public services. Together they will improve the risk monitoring and disaster prevention ability of the government. Besides, "Smart supervision, traffic, medical, and agriculture" are other important aspects of this project, covering multiple facets of citizens' daily life, such as traceable market regulatory processes, a public traffic management system, digitalization of personal healthcare data and services, and agricultural analysis for farmers.

Data Circulation Expansion Project. "National Data Cyber Range" and "National Transaction Services Center" will be two major results of the project. The data cyber range refers to constructing a vast library of general-purpose big data algorithms and component libraries, involving functionalities such as natural language processing, image analysis, and data mining. To better prepare for emergent events, such as public health crises and natural disasters, regular exercises utilizing those data libraries will be conducted. Another center points to the "Western Data Transaction Center," a platform providing a comprehensive set of services about data transactions among governments, enterprises, and social entities. It targets standardizing and encouraging transactions in the data factor market.

Open Questions

Public Communication. Based on the current case study, Chongqing seems to lack a unified online official platform that can display the current progress and present real-time news. This would help citizens and interested entities to have a more accurate understanding of Chongqing's smart city construction progress.

District-level Collaboration. How do different districts collaborate on this data governance plan? Many of their regional plans are overlapping, and there exist many collaborations among entities in various districts.

University Role. What role does Chongqing University play during this construction process? Since Chongqing University is the best university in the city and is renowned for its urban planning and architecture discipline, I expect it to have more involvement in the data governance plan and the overall smart city project.

References

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Type

Digital Masterplan

Author

Yuxuan Zhang

Timeframe

2021—Ongoing

Location

Chongqing, CHN

Lat: 29.5637, Lon:106.5504

Case Study Geography

Chongqing, China