Executives share views on China's Web future

Ralph Haupter, CEO of Microsoft Corp in China.[Photo/IC]

A1 Over the last decade, we have seen a boom in Internet businesses in China, and we have seen entirely new business sectors and business models emerge because of what this connectivity makes possible. As a catalyst for innovation in China, the Internet and the technologies that depend on it will only grow more important and will be essential to unlocking the innovation potential of its young people. With the Internet as a bridge, many Chinese companies, big and small, will be empowered to go global like never before.

A2 Not many countries have an agenda as clear as China's when it comes to leveraging technology. The new growth model and Internet Plus initiative aimed at economic transformation presents an enormous opportunity for IT to be a key enabler of productivity, efficiency, innovation and prosperity across the broadest set of industries and services.

I think China needs to encourage industries to make maximum the use of what they have by deploying hybrid solutions. Microsoft is the only company that offers a world-class enterprise cloud spanning private, public and hybrid solutions, with contractual uptime guarantees and access to advanced data platforms.

A3 I think China's manufacturing sector will see the most transformation because of Internet Plus. With the proliferation of IoT devices and sensors that are broadly applicable, there is enormous opportunity for data collection and to derive actionable insight from manufacturing processes.

A4 The next big trend empowered by Internet infrastructure will be about getting insight from data, and particularly around the Internet of Things. It is fairly widely understood that cloud computing can help lower transformation costs for traditional industries and create new windows for regional economic restructuring, but how IoT can help businesses convert data into new opportunities and enable them to change their business models is still a relatively new idea.

A5 I would tell entrepreneurs to take risks and pursue their passions first and foremost. But I would encourage them to really think about the true value they bring to market as they do so. Maintaining China's momentum in this area depends on encouraging the next wave of innovation in emerging sectors.