Experts highlight differences between Internet Plus and big data, calling for tech breakthroughs

Wang Xiao made a speech at the Era of China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum held at Peking University on August 16, 2016.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Wang Xiao, founder of Unity Ventures, agreed with E on the importance of technology innovation in big data development.

The PC internet era, starting from the year 2000, has witnessed the birth and development of Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent, while the mobile internet era, beginning in the year 2010, has seen the flourishment of location-based apps, such as Meituan, a group buying app, and Didi Chuxing, a taxi hailing app, said Wang. Wang was also one of the seven founding members of Baidu.

He said that over these years, the country has witnessed a lot of innovation in business models, such as with China's Didi, an app similar to Uber. The two companies have recently merged.

However, this might not work in the next era.

Wang explained that the next five to ten years could be called the "smart internet" era, featuring an avalanche of data and more smart solutions enabled by machine learning. He cited Caiyun Weather, an app which can forecast weather in one or two hours, as an example. The app is designed to tell users what time it will rain so football-lovers, for example, can decide in advance whether to go out to play on a Saturday.

"This is impossible in the past, but with the increase of data amount, more can be done now," said Wang, who has invested in more than 100 projects since he left Baidu in 2010, having witnessed development of the company from a seven-member startup to a giant that has employed thousands.

"Entrepreneurial wave is waning in the mobile internet sector and rising in IOT (internet of things), but it will take one to two years for valuable applications to show up." Wang said, adding that for early-stage investors, speed outwights data.