smart cities

Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard's picture

The Digital Silk Road, part I-Cloudy Networked World Calling

China’s Digital Silk Road (DSR), which is part of the larger Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), came into being in 2015 and accelerated after 2017. Broadly speaking, the DSR promotes connectivity in the information and communication technology (ICT) space and encompasses projects relating to artificial intelligence, cloud computing, fintech (e-payments), smart and safe cities, and telecommunications. It is not entirely clear how many countries are participating in the DSR, though it has been reported that 16 countries have signed DSR Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with China.

MNCs in the News-2020 July

Chinese President Xi Jining courts foreign direct investment (FDI) in encouraging letter to the Global CEO Council. China plans to impose sanctions on United States (US) company Lockheed Martin because of the latter’s weapons sales to Taiwan. China’s new, strict cybersecurity laws and regulations have driven Morgan Stanley, a US investment banking firm, to block its interns in China from remotely accessing its virtual network. The recent border clash with China has increased the pressure on New Delhi to reduce the country’s dependence on Chinese solar goods. Various special interest groups have called for the US to sanction China’s CRRC after the US Pentagon labeled it as backed by the Chinese military, saying it represents a security threat. Despite calls for a boycott in the wake of India’s border clash with China, many are skeptical Chinese smartphones can be displaced from the India market. Japanese and British trade negotiators agree they will not require encryption keys or the localization of data. Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group faces growing shareholder pressure to stop financing coal projects. Japan helps Japanese companies move to Vietnam and also helps them shift production lines to Japan as well as various Southeast Asian countries. Myanmar gives three Japanese firms permission to build a mega-liquified natural gas power plant. Korea to spend billions to promote an innovation-based economy. European Union to restart review of the merger of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings. Incheon Port Authority joins the United Nations Global Compact. The backlash against Huawei creates some openings for Samsung, though it is unclear if the Korean firm can exploit them.