East China's Zhejiang province establishes a City Brain industrial alliance in its capital city of Hangzhou on Dec 31, 2020. [Photo/thehour.cn]

East China's Zhejiang province set up a City Brain industrial alliance in its capital city of Hangzhou on Dec 31, 2020, local media outlets reported.

The alliance aims to establish theories and a standard system for the City Brain in order to promote industrial innovation and coordination, talent training, inter-industry cooperation, and practical application. The City Brain is a smart city platform developed by Hangzhou to improve urban management through the use of big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence.

The alliance has engaged 309 government departments, higher learning institutions, research institutes, social organizations, and companies in 11 cities in Zhejiang. Wang Jian, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and founder of the Alibaba Cloud Computing platform, was appointed president of the alliance, while Zhejiang University, Zhijiang Lab, Huawei, and five other units are serving as vice-presidents.

Wang said the City Brain platform will help cities undergo digital transformation and inspire more technological innovation. He expressed hope that the alliance will work with the City Brain industrial collaboration and innovation base established by Hangzhou in late 2019 to work toward more practical results.