The World Internet of Things Convention 2023, the eighth edition of annual conference hosted by the international organization “World Internet of Things Convention”, was held on November 20, 2023 in Beijing, China. The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a written address to the convention. The initiative “Build the Intelligently Interconnected Global Market of Digital Economy” was launched at the annual event, aiming to call for actions to drive the transition and upgrading of economy among countries around the world, build a smart world supported by the internet of things and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.

In his message to the World Internet of Things Convention, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “In an interconnected world, your theme “New Internet of Things, New Economy, New Era” is a testament to the power of digital technologies.” “The internet of Things is reshaping industries and driving social-economic changes around the globe. Through the real-time data sharing and networking of information, IoT applications across transportation, agriculture, energy and healthcare are improving quality of life and can advance the Sustainable Development Goals”, he mentioned.

Observing the comprehensive analysis of data from authoritative research centers and international organizations, HE Xuming, Chairman of the WIOTC Executive Committee, suggested that the world digital economy driven by internet of things and intelligent technologies are witnessing an annual increase of 20 percent at a high speed. In the year of 2023, the amount of global IoT connections grew by over 20 percent, expected to exceed 18 billion. According to the estimates, the corresponding amount is projected to outpace 60 billion by 2030 in terms of IoT connections. The investment in IoT related infrastructures has outpaced the total of nearly ten years, and it is estimated that by 2030, the output of global IoT digital economy will surpass 40 trillion US dollars.  

China has set a good example for the world in terms of the country’s efforts for the sustainable development of IoT infrastructure construction. A good case in point is that China is promised to establish over 3.2 million 5G base stations carrying the internet of things this year, thus making it a new internet power. Last year, China has seen the amount of IoT connections outpacing connections of people, while such connections of this year are about to outnumber 2.3 billion, up by 30 percent or so. The scale of digital economy in China is possible to exceed 60 trillion RBM, an increase of more than 25 percent.

The internet of things around the world finds wide applications across sectors including industry, manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, internet of vehicles, healthcare, electric power, energy, environmental protection, aerospace, military equipment and public life. The communications infrastructure transmission internet carrying IoT digital economy will move towards 5G, 6G, starlink network, quantum transmission and photon transmission. At the same time, the connection pattern is going from interconnection to intelligent and smart interconnections, digital economy industries underpinned by the internet of things are in full swing, which will generate a new world social-economic pattern.

Officials from some countries, ambassadors in China, international organization leaders including ISO President Ulrika Francke, IEC President Jo Cops, ITU TSB Director Seizo Onoe and WFEO President Mustafa Shehu, UNESCO Office in Beijing director Shahbaz Khan, and ETSI Director General Luis Jorge Romero respectively spoke at the annual convention. Officials, diplomatic envoys and corporate representatives from nearly 50 countries participated in this international conference. According to statistics from all sources, the number of participants on site and attendees online is more than ten million. In addition, ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan and ASEAN Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn sent their congratulations to the success of World Internet of Things Convention 2023 via email.

Besides the Opening ceremony and Closing Ceremony, the event also consisted of Ambassador Forum, World New Economic Forum, International Cooperation and Exchanges Forum and parallel sessions on industry, agriculture, energy, AI, transportation, auto intelligence, healthcare, culture, education and tourism, smart logistics and digital finance, at the same time accompanied by the founding ceremonies of WIOTC industrial commissions on logistics, finance, AI, healthcare, culture, education and tourism, etc.

This year’s annual convention highlights the global, high-end and leading characteristics, is conducive to driving the innovative development of fully interconnected digital economy and provides a direction for governments and companies to promote the transition and upgrading of digital economy. It is also a call for us to build the intelligently interconnected global market of digital economy.