本文作者：China Tech Blog
Jana Tian & Sharon Chen
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a technology frontier that connects the physical realm with the digital. A multitude of sensors collect and transmit real-time data, which allows for unprecedented monitoring, control, and feedback in a system. IoT has transformed manufacturing lines, urban infrastructure, and is now vying for a place in the average household.
物聯網（IoT）是將物理領域與數字領域聯繫起來的技術前沿。物聯網使用大量傳感器收集並傳輸實時數據，從而允許對系統進行前所未有的監視，控制和反饋。物聯網已經改變了生產線，城市基礎設施，現在正在往日常生活的各個方面發展。
The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) estimated that by 2025, there will be 14 billion IoT connections worldwide, with a third coming from China. As its society embraces digital transformation, China has seen its IoT market size nearly double in just the past three years - from $56 billion to $100 billion.
全球移動通信系統協會（GSMA）預估截止2025年，全球將有140億個IoT連接，其中三分之一來自中國。隨著社會接受數位化轉型，中國在過去三年中看到其物聯網市場規模幾乎翻了一番，從560億美元增至1000億美元。
How has China achieved such rapid growth in its IoT industry, and what’s on the horizon? We interviewed industry veteran Dan Qiao to get an insider glance into the mix of industrial, government, and consumer forces behind China’s IoT boom.
中國是如何在物聯網行業實現如此快速增長的？並且物聯網的前景如何？我們採訪了行業資深人士喬丹（Dan Qiao），以深入了解中國物聯網繁榮背後的工業，政府和消費者力量。
▎Interview with an Industry Expert
採訪嘉賓
喬丹 即聯即用中國副總裁 領導IoT加速器
Dan Qiao is a VP at Plug and Play China and leads the IoT Accelerator. He has been active in tech incubation, open innovation and early-stage investment in China since 2013. Previously, he worked at Huawei for seven years, playing a key role in their overseas expansion sales operations. His experience has given him both hands-on experience and a bird’s eye view around China’s IoT industry.
自2013年以來，喬丹一直致力於中國市場的技術孵化，開放式創新和早期投資。此前，他在華為工作了7年，在其海外擴張銷售業務中發揮了關鍵作用。他的經驗使他既親身實踐又對中國的物聯網行業有宏觀理解。
How do you define IoT?
您如何定義物聯網？
IoT is not a very new concept. In short, the idea is to connect everything. On a basic level, we build small, localized networks involving physical objects. Then, upon this foundation, we can collect data, perform optimization, and apply machine learning/AI. IoT has already found many applications among various industries and consumers, and with additional policy incentives, I think high connectivity can be attained within three to five years.
物聯網不是一個新概念。簡而言之是萬物互聯。在基本層面上，我們構建涉及實體的小型本地化網絡。在此基礎上，我們可以收集數據，執行優化並應用機器學習/ AI增強運算效率。物聯網已經在各行各業和消費者中發現了許多應用。在政策激勵措施下，我認為可以在三到五年內實現高連接性。
What does the IoT market in China look like today?
今天的中國物聯網市場現狀是什麼樣的？
Many tech innovations start in business-driven applications then trickle down to consumer adoption. For IoT in China, the three major sectors of activity are industry (IIoT), smart city, and smart home.
許多技術創新始於業務驅動的應用程式，然後逐漸滲透到消費者的採用。對於中國的物聯網，活動的三個主要領域是工業物聯網（IIoT），智慧城市物聯網，和智慧家庭物聯網。
- Industry & manufacturing:
IoT has been embraced in manufacturing and agriculture, as increased monitoring and feedback capabilityhelp companies boost productivity, cut costs, and increase efficiency. This has also driven the development and scale-up of specialized sensors that can then benefit other non-industrial IoT applications.
- 工業和製造業：
物聯網已在製造業和農業被應用，因為強化後的監視和反饋功能可幫助公司提高生產率，降低成本並提高效率。這也推動了專用傳感器的開發和規模擴大，從而可以使其他非工業物聯網應用受益。
- Smart cities:
Many governments are looking to incorporate IoT in their transportation systemsin the form of traffic cameras, EV chargers, and even manhole covers. Another major application is utilities management. In most large cities in China, water and electricity meter readings are automated through IoT, which has helped cut costs in the long-term, despite higher upfront investment.
- 智慧城市：
許多政府正在尋求以交通攝像頭，電動汽車充電器甚至下水道井蓋的形式將物聯網納入城市交通系統中。另一個主要應用是在公用事業管理中。在中國大多數大城市水電錶讀數會通過物聯網實現自動化，短期的成本投入會巨大，但是這有助於政府長期降低治理成本。
- Smart homes / consumer goods:
This is the newest frontier of IoT development, including Internet-connected household appliances and wearables such as smart watches. We also see intersections with healthcare needs, with products that can perform health monitoring. The two groups of players racing to develop consumer-facing IoT today are 1) tech giants like Xiaomi and Huawei and 2) traditional home appliance companies like Haier and Midea.
- 智能家居/消費品：
這是物聯網開發的最新領域，包括物聯網控制下的家用電器和智能手錶等可穿戴設備。我們還看到可以執行健康監控以及滿足健康需求的產品。如今，爭奪發展面向消費者的物聯網的兩組參與者是：1）小米和華為等科技巨頭，以及2）海爾和美的等傳統家電公司。
Which of the three areas is the innovation focused on now?
物聯網的創新目前集中哪些領域？
At Plug and Play, we are currently more focused on 2B applications, such as IoT in manufacturing, agriculture, and smart cities. In these cases, if you can solve the technical problem, there will be a market and business. In contrast, consumer-facing applications are riskier because their business model requires 「killer apps」, mature technology, and proper timing. That being said, companies like Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, JD, and Meituan are all investing in their own consumer IoT projects.
在Plug and Play，我們目前更專注於企業應用（toB application），例如製造業，農業和智慧城市中的IoT。在這些情況下，如果服務商能夠解決技術問題，他們就會有市場和業務。相反，面向消費者的應用程式則更具風險，因為其業務模型需要「殺手級應用程式」，成熟的技術和適當的時機。巨頭公司更具優勢，例如百度，阿里巴巴，騰訊，京東和美團等公司都在投資自己的消費物聯網項目。
What do you think has contributed towards the rapid growth of IoT in China?
您如何看待中國物聯網的快速發展？
To be market ready, a technology needs to demonstrate not only performance, but also cost competitiveness. For IoT in China, the policy environment around network infrastructure has really lowered the cost.
為了做好市場準備，一項技術不僅需要展示其技術性能，而且還需要展示其成本競爭力。對於中國的物聯網而言，圍繞網絡基礎架構的利好政策環境確實降低了成本。
For example, take the cost of data bandwidth. A few years ago, there was no distinction between data use by users versus by objects. Without this distinction, even connecting something as basic as an electricity meter was prohibitively expensive. Now, with infrastructure advances, and platforms designed by the three largest network providers specifically for IoT, costs have lowered significantly.
例如，以數據帶寬舉例。幾年前，用戶數據與物理數據之間沒有區別。如果沒有這種區別，即使連接像電錶這樣的基本設備也非常昂貴。現在，隨著基礎設施的發展以及由三大網絡提供商專門為物聯網設計的平臺，物聯網實施的成本已大大降低。
In fact, since 2015, Chinese government has been backing the support towards integrating the country’s mobile internet, cloud computing and big data initiatives through its 『Internet Plus』 strategy. I believe the growth of IoT in China will continue as long as Chinese government keeps providing positive support. China has just committed to the 『Made in China 2025』 program to upgrade the nation’s manufacturing capacity, which is promising to the whole IoT industry but especially IIoT.
實際上，自2015年以來，中國政府就一直在支持通過「網際網路+」戰略整合中國的移動網際網路，雲計算和大數據。我相信只要中國政府繼續提供積極的支持，中國的物聯網將繼續增長。中國剛剛承諾實施「中國製造2025」計劃，以提升其製造能力，這對整個物聯網行業，特別是IIoT來說都是有希望的。
How is the IoT landscape in China compared to that in the United States, or other parts of the world?
與美國或世界其他地區相比，中國的物聯網市場前景如何？
From the demand side, the products that consumers want are probably more similar than not. The differences lie in the cost of and the ecosystem around IoT. For example, a key factor of lowering cost in China is the government push to invest in IoT and enabling technologies. Sharing an ecosystem with Huawei, who can provide advanced and affordable 5G networks, is a clear advantage.In other countries, industry growth is mostly driven by private sector players and market forces, which focus more on short-term returns on investment. This can hinder the development of infrastructure on which IoT depends. Policy and culturecan play roles too. For example, more skeptical attitudes towards data privacy have posed major challenges for IoT companies in other parts of the world.
從需求方面看，消費者想要的產品趨同性較強。但是市場差異在於物聯網的成本和圍繞其形成的生態系統。例如，中國降低成本的關鍵因素是政府大力投資於物聯網和支持技術。政府與華為共享生態系統是顯而易見的優勢，後者可以提供先進且價格合理的5G網絡。在其他國家，行業增長主要由私營部門參與者和市場力量驅動，它們更多地關注短期投資回報。這可能會阻礙物聯網所依賴的基礎架構的發展。另外，政策和文化也可以發揮作用。例如對數據隱私的疑態度對世界其他地區的物聯網公司構成了重大挑戰。
What is the role of 5G in driving forward IoT?
5G在推動物聯網發展中扮演什麼角色？
The power of IoT lies in the number of devices connected.As the Internet infrastructure continues to mature with the spread of 4G/5G, IoT will only continue to grow. However, infrastructure is only the first step - real market takeoff will require killer apps to convince people to buy in. Most consumer-facing projects harnessing 5G capabilities are still in their experimental phase, but I expect some key benefits to be realized as soon as next year.
物聯網的能力在於所連接設備的數量。隨著4G / 5G的普及，網際網路基礎設施逐漸成熟，物聯網將持續增長。但是，基礎架構只是第一步。真正的市場飛速發展需要殺手級的應用程式才能說服消費者購買。大多數面向消費者的5G功能項目仍處於試驗階段，但是我希望一些關鍵的優勢在明年能夠儘快實現。
One example is a digital mall piloted by Wanda and Huawei. By providing 5G/IoT capability, they are exploring how to better serve shops and customers through guided purchasing and more bespoke shopping experiences. For example, by combining location data and a customer’s purchase history, they can make recommendations, and make it easier to buy what you want to buy.
例如由萬達和華為牽頭的數字商城。通過提供5G / IoT功能，他們正在探索如何通過指導性購買和更多定製性的購物體驗更好地為商店和客戶服務。數字商城通過結合位置數據和客戶的購買歷史記錄提出建議，並使消費者購買商品變得更加容易。
▎In Summary
結語
Supported by government policy and network providers, Chinese IoT products have found a multitude of applications in industry and urban infrastructure. Now, the industry has set its gaze on extending into people’s everyday lives in the form of wearables, smart home appliances, and next generation mall experiences. Active support through investment and policy, combined with the dawn of 5G network capability, continues to propel China towards IoT’s promise of connecting everything.
在政府政策和網絡提供商的支持下，中國物聯網產品在工業和城市基礎設施中得到了廣泛的應用。現在，物聯網行業也將目光聚焦於面向廣大消費者的可穿戴設備，智能家電和下一代購物中心體驗的形式。物聯網也將擴展到人們的日常生活中。投資和政策的積極支持，5G網絡功能的興起會共同推動中國朝著IoT萬物互聯的未來前進。
關於China Tech Blog（CTB）
China Tech Blog成立於2017年，一個由清華蘇世民書院，復旦大學以及倫敦商學院的學生及校友組成的國際科技社區。CTB提供有關中國創新的現狀和未來方向的獨到見解，為非中文國家的讀者了解中國的科技發展，打破國家的邊界，加強國際創新交流。如果您對中國的技術創新感興趣，可以掃描以下二維碼，在LinkedIn上關注CTB，獲取更多前沿及深度觀點。
關於 Plug and Play 中國
Plug and Play 前身始於 1998 年的矽谷史丹福大學路 165 號，先後成功早期投資和孵化包括 Google、PayPal、Dropbox 在內的多家網際網路行業科技巨頭公司。
Plug and Play 正式於 2006 年在矽谷成立。經過十餘年的發展和超過 20 年的長期積累，目前在全球 30 個國家和地區建立了創新生態空間和區域辦公室；年平均進行早期科技投資超過 250 筆，先後累計投資初創企超過 1,150 家，累計為超過 400 家全球 500 強企業提供聯合創新服務，年平均舉行初創企業和大企業間的對接交流活動 1,000 餘場。
成立於 2015 年的「即聯即用中國（Plug and Play China）」，立足北京——中國總部，布局上海、深圳兩大區域創新中心，深耕南京、武漢、無錫三大城市產業創新中心，聯動南通、蘇州、佛山、廣州、重慶、鄭州、青島等城市創新合作夥伴開展中國創新業務，開設投資、聯合創新對接、初創公司孵化與加速、全球城市跨境創新以及創新生態空間等五大業務板塊，構建了中國領軍的創新生態平臺，覆蓋線上和線下創新平臺，並為之配套構建了包括高校科研聯合創新、政府、風險投資、創新生態研究、城市創新夥伴等多維度的創新生態夥伴體系。迄今已服務了近 100 家行業領軍企業，累計孵化加速 4,000 餘家創業公司，並投資了包括 ApplyBoard、autox、縱行科技、銀基安全、大界機器人等超過 140 家科技創新企業。