The Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) held an academic forum in Beijing on May 8, 2013. It was the third such event of the year, and focused on Big Data, its essence and possible influences. The speaker was Jiang Haoduan of the DRC's Information Center, who addressed a group of around 20 officials and researchers from the DRC.

He focused Big Data – the rise of this concept and backgrounds, its nature and possible impact. The speaker also had lively discussion with the participants.