Book Why Wuzhen tracks 10-year journey of WIC Wuzhen Summit

The book Why Wuzhen, written by Ren Xianliang, secretary-general of the World Internet Conference (WIC), was published before this year's Wuzhen Summit, which will run from Nov 6 to Nov 9.

Ren documents the complete ten-year journey of the WIC Wuzhen Summit, from its inception in 2014, to its global reach in 2024 in the book.

"There is a famous saying in the internet industry: 'We don't predict the future; we create it,'" Ren wrote in the book. "In Wuzhen, one can have a strong sense that the future is already here."

An excerpt from the book describes Wuzhen as a "testing ground for the internet", highlighting the deployment of advanced technologies.

Examples cited include 5G-operated remote driving, unmanned public minibuses, 5G patrol robots, and smart hotel systems equipped with facial recognition and voice controls.

The text also notes that WIC events, such as the Straight to Wuzhen Competition and the Light of Internet Expo, function as platforms for new technologies and applications.

"In 2019, the 50th year since the invention of the internet, technological leaps have significantly compressed space and time," Ren wrote. "Looking back at human history, no other technological invention has changed human production and life as extensively and profoundly as the internet."

This year, the Straight to Wuzhen Competition has set up six tracks, such as artificial intelligence and intelligent digital healthcare, and the Light of Internet Expo will set up themed exhibition areas focusing on AI fields and carrying out internet science popularization for the first time.

The WIC Awards for Pioneering Science and Technology has collected more than 400 achievements from 34 countries, covering frontier fields like embodied intelligence and 6G. The award results will be announced as scheduled during the summit.