Executives and representatives of the 15 world's leading internet scientific and technological achievements receive awards on stage at a ceremony held during the World Internet Conference - Internet Development Forum in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, Nov. 23, 2020. (Photo: China.org.cn)

Fifteen of the world's leading internet scientific and technological achievements, such as self-driving car and brain-like computer, were unveiled and awarded on Monday at the World Internet Conference - Internet Development Forum held in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang province.

"They represent the crystallization of the wisdom of global internet practitioners, and will also mark and lead the direction of future internet technology development and application," said Wu Hequan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chinese co-chair of the Recommendation Committee for World Leading Internet Scientific and Technological Achievements set up by the World Internet Conference.

The committee has Wan Gang, vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee and chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, as its honorary chairman, and Wu as Chinese co-chair and internet pioneer Werner Zorn as foreign co-chair.

It invited a group of nearly 40 internet experts from around the world to select the 15 winning achievements from 293 shortlisted candidates submitted by internet enterprises, scientific research institutions, universities and individuals from around the globe.

The achievements are mainly for five major application fields: post-pandemic industrial recovery and collaborative development, digital social governance, global public crisis response, artificial intelligence (AI) improving human quality of life, as well as green and digital public welfare practice.

Since the announcement of solicitation for the leading achievements was issued in early August, it received extensive attention and positive response. A large variety of more than 300 achievements collected this year came from China, the United States, Russia, Germany, France and many other countries and regions.

The achievements cover basic theories, technologies, products, business models and other internet-related fields, focusing on technical categories spanning quantum computing, satellite internet, AI, high-performance chips, 5G network architecture and innovative applications.

The achievements include several that have helped in the fight against COVID-19, such as "Tech for Good: Communication for Boundless Collaboration," an experience based on the Tencent Meeting application by Tencent Cloud Computing (Beijing) Co., Ltd; "Big Data Platform for Epidemic Prevention, Control and Work Resumption" by the China Academy of Electronics and Information Technology of CETC; "AI-based COVID-19 Prevention and Control: Overall Solution of Meituan Autonomous Delivery" by Beijing Sankuai Online Technology Co., Ltd; and "Novel Coronavirus National Science and Technology Resource Service System" by the Institute of Microbiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Other eye-catching achievements are "SHENLONG: Next-Generation Software-Hardware Integrated Virtualization Architecture" by Alibaba Cloud Computing Co. Ltd; "360 QUAKE Cyberspace Surveying and Mapping System" by 360 Security Technology Inc.; "Neuromorphic Computer with Hundreds of Millions of Neurons" by Zhijiang Lab; "ACE Intelligent Transportation," a self-driving car system by Baidu; "Intelligent Twins: The Reference Architecture for Intelligent Upgrades" by Huawei; and Microsoft's newly released double-screen smart phone "Surface Duo."

"The projects beyond the top 15 leading scientific and technological achievements release are also worthy of gratitude and recognition," said Werner Zorn, member of the Internet Hall of Fame and a founding father of the German Internet. He personally suggested all the shortlisted 293 submissions should be displayed on the platform of the World Internet Conference, for people's scrutiny.

Academician Wu Hequan looked forward to more exciting internet technology achievements being unveiled next year. "Now, we live in a golden age of information technology development. As a general technology, the internet has played a role as a platform, promoting the development of the entire technology and society towards digitalization, networking and intelligence."

"It not only brings strong development momentum to information technology and other high-tech industries, but also promotes industry, agriculture and government governance, smart cities and other aspects of digital transformation and upgrading, pushes forward the development of the digital economy," Wu said.

Themed "Digital Empowerment for a Better Future: Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace," the two-day World Internet Conference includes two main forums, five sub-forums, an expo and other activities.