Themed “Towards a New Era of Digital Civilization — Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace,” the summit will be held both online and offline this year, according to Zhao Zeliang, deputy head of the Cyberspace Administration of China.
The 2021 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit is scheduled to take place from Sept. 26 to 28 in Wuzhen, east China’s Zhejiang Province, according to a press conference Friday.
Themed “Towards a New Era of Digital Civilization — Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace,” the summit will be held both online and offline this year, according to Zhao Zeliang, deputy head of the Cyberspace Administration of China.
Digital Civilization matters a great deal to China’s leaders. China is sometimes referenced as a ‘civilizational state’, an idea first proposed by Chinese intellectuals and later promoted by the British Marxist Martin Jacques. In the Chinese political lexicon, being civilized means ‘fitting in’ with the national plan, accepting the party-state’s directives and guidance, and obeying laws. Four normative models of civilization coexist in contemporary China: material, spiritual, political and ecological. The rise of material civilization is equated with a more prosperous society beginning with economic reforms in 1978. Many people sought opportunities in a market that was largely unregulated, where conduct was increasingly immoral. Personal networks (guanxi), the black market, and corruption were part of the reality of everyday life. The behaviour of market opportunists needed to be managed, even controlled; hence the normative expectations of a ‘spiritual civilization’ were delivered in mass media campaigns and advertising.
Nearly 2,000 representatives from governments, international organizations, industry associations, leading global enterprises, universities and research institutes from over 80 countries and regions, will attend the conference in-person or virtually, Zhao said.
This year’s event will feature 20 sub-forums to discuss new digital-technology trends such as 5G, artificial intelligence and open-source ecology, as well as major topics of cyberspace governance and development, including data management, internet-enabled charity, poverty alleviation and global anti-pandemic efforts.
The three-day event will also feature a global internet competition, an internet expo and a ceremony to announce this year’s leading internet scientific and technological achievements, along with a section showcasing excellent projects on jointly building a community with a shared future in cyberspace.
Two reports, namely “World Internet Development Report 2021” and “China Internet Development Report 2021,” will also be released during the event.
Source China.Org