Yearlong event a new highlight of WIC

Cutting-edge internet technologies from the world's major innovation hubs are injecting momentum into the ongoing World Internet Conference — the top internet conference in the entire industry.

As an important part of the World Internet Conference, also known as the Wuzhen Summit, which opens on Sunday, the Global Internet Competition of "Straight to Wuzhen" is a yearlong event to advance the digital economy. It aims to select highquality innovative internet projects from home and abroad.

The overseas qualification round of this year's global internet competition saw its curtains lifted in Tel Aviv, Israel; Frankfurt, Germany; and San Francisco, the United States.

Winners were qualified to get through to the semifinal on Saturday, during the sixth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang province.

The first leg of the overseas qualification round took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sept 4.

With an array of world-leading universities and research institutes and a strong atmosphere of entrepreneurship and innovation in the field of information technology, Israel is one of the technological innovation hubs in the world.

The preliminary competition held in Israel attracted a raft of outstanding internet startup projects and teams to participate, involving the fields of intelligent hardware, the internet of things, Internet Plus and artificial intelligence.

After the professional evaluation by the judges, consisting of top investment institutions executives, industry scholars and project specialists, three innovation projects — Rephraser, SenseIT and Youtiligent — reached the semifinal.

On Sept 7, the overseas qualification competition came to Germany, where both basic science and applied research are well-developed. 

As the initiator and advocate of the "Industry 4.0", Germany is rich in scientific and technological achievements including patents. The country is among the firsts in scientific and technological innovation.

The qualification competition held in Frankfurt caused a sensation among the internet-related industrial insiders not only in Germany, but also in some other regions of Europe.

Nearly 100 projects and teams from the fields of big data, cloud computing, IoT, mobile internet, AI, 5G technology, intelligent manufacturing, chip and Internet Plus took part in the event.

After a fierce competition, the top three projects were qualified for the semifinal. They were the real-time multi-GPU rendering engine and digitalcontent making platform, the VIAI video intelligence and the Audar smart fall detection and healthcare information system.

The final leg of the overseas qualification round was held in San Francisco, the US on Sept 11.

"It is expected that through the qualification round, some leading technological projects and professionals from the US can show their strengths at the World Internet Conference and participate in the wave of global internet development," said Fu Zheng, executive secretary-general of the Wuzhen Summit Internet Industry Cooperation Alliance.

A raft of internet startup projects and teams from the fields of intelligent manufacturing, big data, AI, virtual reality and IoT in North America competed during the event. 

The top three companies that earned the qualification to the semifinal were RedRock Biometrics, Pix Moving and People Strong. 

Exploring new technologies, new models and new industrial forms of the internet, the Global Internet Competition is committed to forging a communication and cooperation channel for domestic and overseas internet companies in terms of technology, professional and investment.

By promoting global internet cooperation and innovation, stimulating internet startups and pooling together young professionals across the world, the competition contributes to the entire internet industry worldwide and rapid development of the digital economy, organizers said.

The competition provides an ideal platform for industrial insiders to share insights and seek business partners. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY