Hubs in Xinjiang help build digital bridges

Out in the desert near Karamay in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, where oil derricks have long punctuated the skyline, another kind of resource is quietly taking root. It is not crude oil that now flows from this rugged land, but data, knowledge and a growing web of human connections that stretch from Central Asia to the shores of the Indian Ocean.

The catalyst for the change is the "Tree of SCO" — a digital technology training initiative incubated under the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Big Data Cooperation Center.

Since its launch in May 2023, the program has hosted training sessions for more than 1,000 participants from SCO member states, including Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The participants include government officials, research experts and corporate leaders.

They are active contributors. The curriculum is deliberately hands-on. Rather than sitting through passive lectures, trainees enter industrial parks, walk into enterprise data centers, deploy cloud desktops, configure cloud hosts and engage in real-time cybersecurity attack-and-defense drills.

The course content focuses on frontier fields such as computing power networks, artificial intelligence, HarmonyOS applications and the low-altitude economy. According to the organizers of the training sessions, half of the instructors come from top universities and the other half are technical experts from leading companies like Huawei, ensuring that what is taught is grounded in both theory and real-world practice.

Over the past three years, Symbat Ramazanov, an entrepreneur and adviser on international cooperation to the regional government of East Kazakhstan, has made 10 visits to Karamay. These included organizing delegations from his region to attend the program, during which participants discussed efficient practices and took excursions to relevant organizations and enterprises.

"China has demonstrated significant advantages in digital transformation. Technology companies in my region have signed a series of memorandums of understanding with Chinese peer firms in fields including healthcare, education and tourism. Collaboration with China has yielded tangible projects that are executed swiftly, and … flexibly prepared for introduction," he said.

Wang Zhiqin, vice-president of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said: "Digital talent training is a vital component of SCO digital economy cooperation. Strengthening such training not only aligns with the SCO theme, but also solidifies the human foundation for deeper regional technological integration and digital development."

T. R. Midhun, SCO deputy secretary-general, said that digital cooperation within the organization has entered a critical phase demanding substantial breakthroughs. He called for greater emphasis on converting ideas into tangible results.

At the heart of this strategy is clear government support. Xiong Jijun, China's vice-minister of industry and information technology, said that China is committed to building an open, inclusive and shared global digital ecosystem through international cooperation with SCO members.

"Relying on the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Big Data Cooperation Center, we will continue to train digital technology talent for SCO countries, facilitate digital transformation through mutual learning and build a bridge for win-win cooperation in the digital domain," he said.