Outlook Weekly August 29

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Promoting the Big Data Industry

Outlook Weekly August 29

Big data is becoming increasingly important. It provides a basis and technological support for formulating public policies and therefore strengthens the government’s ability to govern. It is especially essential to departments responsible for devising economic strategy， as it enables them to grasp the macroeconomic situation and formulate more effective policies.

Big data also has a significant impact on people’s lives. In the medical field， for instance， it can help efforts to prevent chronic diseases and increase the efficiency of medical insurance services.

In recent years， the big data industry has boomed in China， and big data trading platforms are being established in various locations. According to estimates， China’s big data market will be worth over 6 billion yuan （$899 million）in 2016 and more than 50 billion yuan （$7.5 billion） by 2020.

Although China has rich big data resources，largely they have yet to be activated owing to the lack of uniform standards， sound regulatory mechanisms as well as a fully-fledged trading system.

Moreover， the supply of big data cannot meet the huge demand. On the one hand， government departments and public institutions are reluctant or don’t know how to share the large volume of data they possess. On the other hand， information leakage and the illegal tradingof citizens’ personal information have triggered widespread concerns.

To clear the obstacles for the development of the nation’s big data industry， barriers between different sectors should be broken down in order to facilitate the smooth flow of data. Data trading standards should be formulated in accordance with international conventions. In addition， laws and regulations governing the industry should be drafted to provide a legal basis for its development.