The "High-Level Forum of the 2020 Beijing Book Fair" was held in Beijing on January 9. Wang Zhicheng, a level-1 inspector and deputy director of the Publishing Bureau within the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, delivered a speech at the gathering. Liu Binjie, the president of the Publishers Association of China and former director of the General Administration of Press and Publication, made an annual keynote speech on system building and strategic planning. Elites from publishing and technology industries and research institutions, including Sun Yuemu, a member of the Leading Party Group of China Publishing Group Corp. and deputy general manager of China Publishing & Media Holdings Co., Ltd., and Professor Shen Yang from the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, and GTCOM CEO Eric Yu, gathered to discuss the new trends and challenges in reform and innovation, and integrated development of publishing and distribution industries.

▲ Wang Zhicheng, a level-1 inspector and deputy director of the Publishing Bureau within the Publicity Department of the CPC

▲ Liu Binjie, the president of the Publishers Association of China and former director of the General Administration of Press and Publication

▲ Sun Yuemu, a member of the Leading Party Group of China Publishing Group Corp. and deputy general manager of China Publishing & Media Holdings Co., Ltd.

▲GTCOM CEO Eric Yu

The new-generation information technology is changing society's production and life to a dramatic extent. Along with the commercialization of 5G in China, new technologies will empower and accelerate the development and upgrading of vertical industries. What changes will new technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, bring to publishing and cultural industries?

GTCOM CEO Eric Yu, in his keynote speech titled "Knowledge Service Driven by AI and Big Data," described the applications of big data and AI based on scenario-oriented quality data sets to vertical industries such as press and publishing and knowledge service from the perspectives of cutting-edge technologies including machine translation, natural-language processing and knowledge graphing. Mr. Yu asserted that from the Internet to AI, along with the advance of next-generation information technology, big data has become a significant infrastructure for production and operations. In the era of AI and big data, the press-and-publishing industry will usher in development opportunities such as more efficient circulation of cross-language publications, more real-time and comprehensive regulations on press and publishing, closer integration between material selection and the market, and clearer directions of press and publishing. Machine translation will facilitate the publishing industry to "go global" and "bring in." Meanwhile Mr. Yu, citing case studies, introduced the application results of machine-translation products such as the YEEKIT CAT computer translation project management and aided translation system, webpage translation, and YeeCaption, in supporting collaborative translation and streamlining the processes of book translation and publishing.

Mr. Yu introduced GTCOM's exploration and gains in regard to the empowerment of the press-and-publishing industry through AI and big data, describing aspects such as AI and big data in support of market analysis, topic selection, and technological prediction. He said the publishing-related knowledge graph (built based on multisource, heterogeneous data such as that of mainstream media, social networking site (SNS) comments, book reviews and encyclopedias) and AI can gradually refine the scope of topics for selection, merge and categorize content, and display and update content in multiple languages--doing so in real time--and thereby realize intelligent topic selection and automatic content production. The "Belt and Road Initiative-Based Report on Publications by Country," as issued by GTCOM, marks an achievement of AI in knowledge service as it pertains to the publishing industry. The report describes the status of the publishing industry in countries that are participants in the Belt and Road Initiative and our neighboring countries and serves as a reference in the export of publications, industry investment and cultural promotion for all countries. With respect to global science/technology discovery and value assessment, Mr. Yu explained how the company would use technology to drive knowledge service and the future development of the press-and-publishing industry, from the aspects of scientific and technological innovation, market influence, investment risk and corporate stability.

▲ At the forum

Given the context of building a strong cultural country as well as reform and innovation, integrated development, transformation, and improvement of quality and efficiency of the press-and-publishing industry, and in consideration of the larger trend of prosperous development in the knowledge-service industry, technologies like big data, AI, blockchain and 5G will play a vital role in empowering the quality development, transformation, and upgrading of the press-and-publishing industry and have wide applications to the industry. GTCOM, as a global leading fintech and research data analytical company, will continue leveraging on leading AI technologies such as natural-language processing, semantic computing, and knowledge graph, and work hand in hand with more partners to enhance the industry's quality-oriented development through technical support and services.