A digital and intelligent revolution is under way. How can it be managed to benefit us all? Huawei, its industry partners and a number of think tanks have come together and released a set of reports exploring the intelligent world and outlining the way it can change our lives, businesses and environment– for the better.
Huawei’s The Intelligent World 2030 report was first released in 2021, and this year a new edition has released, accompanied by a series of white papers under the heading Striding Towards the Digital World. These explore and attempt to gain insights into the trends and changes of the ICT infrastructure industry, while outlining the goals of 5G-A and the all-intelligence era, and providing action paths for all participants to create a better future together.
Supporting this comprehensive and forward-looking view there is also the Global Digitalization Index (GDI) 2024. The GDI is designed to quantify the digital transformation progress of 77 countries and help countries solve key challenges in implementing digitalization strategies and accelerating the development of their digital economies.
These reports were launched in late September 2024 at Huawei’s Embracing Intelligence for a Thriving Digital Economy forum.
The reports contain a lot of information – but that can surely be no surprise. The rapid development of digital technologies and continuing revolutionary breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) have dominated global headlines even in the short period since the 2021 publication of The Intelligent World 2030.
It’s time to take stock. These Huawei reports do just that – and more.
Let’s start with Intelligent World 2030. This revised and updated report looks forward to a 2030 in which pollution, unhealthy diets, traffic congestion and repetitive and dangerous work can be minimised or even eliminated by an intelligent world. The report expands on this theme by looking at how ICT technology and data-driven research can aid and improve such diverse areas as healthcare, food production, lifestyles, transportation, city living, the enterprise, energy delivery and digital trust.
For those requiring a really deep dive the report also highlights specific areas and their likely evolution towards 2030. This includes close examination of the prospects of communications networks, data storage, digital power, cloud computing, ICT services and software, intelligent automotive, digitalization in the electric power industry, data centres, and the intelligent campus – again as seen from a 2030 perspective.
But many readers will also want to see pathways that take us to these futures. Hence The Striding Towards the Intelligent World white papers. These provide information on innovation paths for ICT industry development in specially selected key areas.
These white papers identify recent trends and practices in a number of industries and suggest actions to promote industry development and accelerate the development of the intelligent world. The papers focus on data storage, ICT services and software, cloud computing, the cloud core network and, finally, navigating the journey to all-intelligence.
Data is the key to unlocking the digital and intelligent future: the more computing power and effective training data, the better the performance of large AI models. The Striding Towards the Intelligent World paper on data storage reminds us that shifting gears from digitalization to digital and intelligent transformation can affect every sector – from finance, carriers and public services to manufacturing, electric power, education, research and healthcare.
But digital and intelligent transformation across industries requires high-quality data and efficient data processing, while data infrastructure in the digital intelligent era will also need to adapt. The promise and challenges of both are discussed in detail in this wide-ranging and essential analysis.
The ICT services and software white paper looks at another important issue. Intelligent changes will bring qualitative changes, resulting in a significant boost in industries' digital productivity, which will become the main theme of the intelligent era. However, this poses new challenges and requirements for ICT services and software.
Here too multiple industries are discussed but in most cases the fundamental questions do not change. How can ICT infrastructure evolve to respond to need? What new professional service capabilities will be required? What does this mean for service level agreements? How will integrating intelligence into digital services deliver new experience and create new opportunities? And, of course, how can we ensure that training and skills are boosted to keep up?
The next topic examined in the Striding Towards the Intelligent World white papers is cloud computing; as we are reminded, cloud computing will support the reshaping of industries that AI will bring about. Four trends that will underpin this change are examined in this paper:
- AI-native infrastructure for elastic, efficient, diverse compute
- Knowledge-centric data foundations powering large AI models
- Multimodal, multi-size models meeting diverse AI needs
- AI agents, the new building blocks of enterprise AI
The next white paper focuses on wireless and the cloud core network. 5G-A may still be some way off in many regions, but 2024 marks a significant milestone in the evolution of mobile networks, as it introduces the first year of commercial use of 5G-A and the integration of AI with devices.
Thus, this white paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the latest innovations, practices and insights in the 5G-A core network. Trends, opportunities and challenges that operators – and the many other stakeholders that 5G-A will attract – face in an era when mobile AI era is poised to transform the world are discussed in depth.
It’s clear, then, that we are approaching the age of all-intelligence. The fifth white paper looks at why and how commercial AI is booming and how enterprises and networks can navigate this journey. For enterprises in particular Huawei discusses a vision it calls ‘6A enterprises in the age of All Intelligence’. These 6As are:
- Adaptive user experience: AI systems perceiving user behaviours and adjusting to them.
- Auto-evolving products: products that ‘learn’ – for example self-driving vehicles that drive better the more they drive.
- Autonomous operation: not just execution but sensing, planning, and decision-making.
- Augmented workforce: employees equipped with an intelligent assistants
- All-connected resources: every part of an enterprise connected; real-time feedback; all objects, processes, and rules digitalized.
- AI-native infrastructure: the development of intelligent applications supported by comprehensive ICT infrastructure – and a fully intelligent O&M and user experience of ICT infrastructure .
As for networks, it’s clear that networks for individual users, vehicles, machines and businesses must evolve to meet the needs of AI applications. Why, how and the relevance of Autonomous Network Level 4 (a state of high autonomy) are examined in the second part of this paper.
Finally, we come back to the present day, albeit while still looking forward. The Global Digitalization Index (GDI) measures the impact of ICT industry maturity on the economy and provides quantitative reference for national digital intelligence strategies.
Put more simply, as countries implement national digitalization strategies, they all need to address questions about measuring the RoI of digital infrastructure investment, planning the best roadmap for (and pace of) ICT development and evaluating the readiness of an ICT industry ecosystem.
The Global Digitalization Index (GDI) is designed to quantify the digital transformation progress of each of 77 countries, help these countries solve key challenges in implementing digitalization strategies and accelerate the development of their digital economies.
All of these reports are the result of joint research between Huawei, its industry partners and think tanks. And all focus not just on questions but on Huawei's own achievements in the field and the recommendations it can offer based on its own experience and innovations.
In fact Huawei offers not just recommendations but some fascinating statistics. 2030, Huawei predicts, will see 3.3 ZFLOPS global general computing power; 864 ZFLOPS AI computing power, 200 billion connections worldwide; 1 YB data generated annually globally; 1.6 billion fibre broadband subscribers; a 25% 10-gigabit fibre broadband penetration rate; 1,000 robots for every 10,000 workers in manufacturing companies; and 65% global electricity generated from renewables.
These statistics are truly mind-boggling. Not surprisingly, Dr Tshilidzi Marwala, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Rector of the United Nations University said at the launch of these papers: "Today, we find ourselves in the midst of a new revolution, a digital age driven by unprecedented technological advancements…We urge all stakeholders to embrace changes and address real-world challenges that demand solutions. It is time to unite the expertise of academia, the innovation of the private sector, the foresight of policymakers, and the engagement of society to bridge divides and build a sustainable future."
David Wang, Huawei's Executive Director of the Board and Chairman of the ICT Infrastructure Managing Board, was equally upbeat in his speech at the launch. As he said: "The digital and intelligent revolution will redefine all economic activities, including production, distribution, exchange and consumption. This will enable the digital economy to become a major engine of global economic growth. ICT infrastructure is a key cornerstone of the digital economy.”
How do we manage this future? With the help of technology giants like Huawei, certainly. As David Wang noted: “Huawei will continue to promote the innovation of key technologies, including connectivity, cloud computing and AI, and will work together with industry players to seize new opportunities and create a new era of a thriving digital economy."
These reports aren’t the final word by any means. Huawei has for a long time been holding in-depth discussions with well-known scholars, customers and partners in the industry to explore the intelligent world – and will continue to do so going forward.
From October 14 to 18, Huawei will be a Diamond Sponsor at the 44th GITEX GLOBAL 2024, one of the world's largest technology exhibitions. With the theme of "Accelerate Industrial Digitalization and Intelligence", Huawei will launch a series of flagship products and solutions for the global enterprise markets, Reference Architecture for Intelligent Transformation, and rich innovative practices in digital intelligence in the global industry.
At the same time, Huawei will hold the Huawei Industrial Digital and Intelligent Transformation Summit 2024, dozens of forums, hundreds of talks and keynote speeches, exchanging thoughts with the industry. At this exhibition, Huawei's booth is located at B10&B20, Hall 22, Dubai World Trade Center. It covers an area of more than 1400 square meters, with the focuses on two themes: " Accelerate Industrial Digitalization and Intelligence" and "Leading Digtial and Intelligent Infrastructure". We sincerely welcome you to visit the GITEX Global Huawei exhibition area to experience and join us in our journey of " Accelerate Industrial Digitalization and Intelligence ".
