Recently, led by Sun Zhijun, Party Secretary of Beijing Normal University Business School (BNUBS), a delegation travelled to Yantai to sign a strategic cooperation agreement with the Yantai Big Data Bureau and carry out field research, opening a new chapter for government-university-industry-research collaboration on the digital economy.

1. Signing the Strategic Agreement: Embarking on a New Journey of University-Local Cooperation

On the afternoon of July 13, the signing ceremony and exchange forum between BNUBS and the Yantai Big Data Bureau were held. Sun Zhijun, Party Secretary of BNUBS; Han Lili, Associate Party Secretary; Sun Yunchuan, supervisor of the research team researching New Quality Productive Forces from the FinTech Perspective, together with seven undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students formed the ten-member delegation and attended the meeting.

Bi Qiujun, Party Secretary and Director of the Yantai Big Data Bureau, introduced the bureau’s overall working framework of "3+1": advancing the development of three foundational capacities — algorithms, computing power and data — to uniformly support core application scenarios of digital government. He expressed the hope that BNUBS could leverage its academic strengths in digital economy, data governance and business administration to provide theoretical support and intellectual resources for Yantai’s digital government development and the value realization of data factors.

Sun Zhijun, Party Secretary of BNUBS, pointed out that BNUBS boasts a full-chain talent cultivation system and has laid out emerging disciplines including digital economy & management and fintech in response to major national strategies. This cooperation aims to advance collaborative education via government-university-industry-research integration, translate frontline digital government practices into classroom cases, and cultivate interdisciplinary digital talents. He encouraged students to cherish this research opportunity, take the initiative to observe and raise questions, and gain authentic knowledge through practice.

Subsequently, the two parties held the signing ceremony for the strategic cooperation agreement, establishing a long-term, stable and win-win university-local collaborative framework. Moving forward, BNUBS will give full play to its disciplinary and talent advantages, closely align with demands for digital government governance, and prioritize internship practice, case development and research projects. The School will boost integrated government-university-industry-research education, realize complementary advantages between academic resources of universities and practical government platforms, and form a long-standing cooperation mechanism.

 

 

 Scene of the signing ceremony

 

Following the signing ceremony, the Urban Brain Task Force of Yantai Big Data Bureau introduced the "1+16+N" overall architecture of the Urban Brain and demonstrated core application outcomes in situation analysis, emergency command and decision support. The research team gained intuitive insights into the overall layout of Yantai’s drive to build a digital powerhouse city, with focused understanding of progress in reforms on authorized operation of public data and accounting recognition of data assets. The team acquired a tangible perception of grassroots innovations and achievements in the field of data factors in Yantai. Both sides conducted in-depth exchanges on cutting-edge academic research on big data, the implementation and application of digital technological innovation, joint training of professional talents, and local transformation of research findings, exchanging ideas and building consensus across academic research, technological innovation, talent cultivation and achievement commercialization.

Exchange forum at Yantai Big Data Bureau

To further strengthen mutual exchanges, on the morning of July 16, the Yantai Big Data Bureau organized a Party-building joint activity together with faculty and student researchers. The group visited the Yang Zirong and Muping Revolutionary History Exhibition Hall and Yantai Natural Museum. Through on-site study, guided tours and featured documentaries, participants drew inspiration from the revolutionary spirit and gained scientific insights.

 

 

Researchers and staff from Yantai Big Data Bureau visited the Yang Zirong and Muping Revolutionary History Exhibition Hall

 

 

Researchers and staff from Yantai Big Data Bureau visited Yantai Natural Museum

2. Visiting China Data Port: Tapping into the Digital Pulse of Yantai

On July 13, Secretary Sun Zhijun led the delegation on an on-site visit to China Data Port, Yantai. With explanations from on-site staff, the research team gained a detailed understanding of Yantai’s market-oriented reform of data factors and achievements in digital government construction, developing direct and thorough comprehension of the value transformation path of data: from resources to assets and further to capital.

 

 

Faculty and student researchers visited China Data Port, Yantai

Zhao Xingli, Vice President of Yantai Smart City Big Data Research Institute, elaborated on the institute’s progress and achievements over the past three years in smart city top-level design, big data-assisted decision analysis for government affairs, and registration and evaluation of data resources. She also voiced intentions to cooperate with BNUBS on joint project development, research initiatives and talent training.

Exchange forum at Yantai Smart City Big Data Research Institute

3. In-depth Visits to Sci-tech Frontlines: Reaching New Consensus on University-Local Cooperation

On July 14, Secretary Sun Zhijun led the delegation to industrial parks under Yantai High-tech International Science and Technology Cooperation Co., Ltd., conducting field visits to local digital technology enterprises and research institutions, covering diverse entities including small and medium-sized innovative tech firms, listed digital enterprises and new-type R&D institutions. The research focused on digitalization in medical care, agriculture, government administration and industries as well as frontier scientific research areas. The team systematically examined differentiated development paths for digital entities of varying scales, deeply explored practical logic of empowering the real economy through digital technologies, accumulated abundant frontline typical cases to lay a solid foundation for teaching research and case development, and opened new space for university-local cooperation.

 

Group photo after research at China-Russia Science and Innovation Park

 

 

Guided tour at Exhibition Hall No.1 for scientific and technological innovation

Liu Xinghui, General Manager of Shandong Weiheng Data Technology Co., Ltd., introduced the company’s business layout, digital transformation strategy and development path of building core competitive edges focusing on specialized medical sectors. The research team fully grasped the enterprise’s transformation logic and industrial competition landscape, sorted out core demands such as financing and talent recruitment, and proposed targeted policy suggestions to provide intellectual support for the development of segmented medical digitalization tracks.

 

 

Exchange forum at Shandong Weiheng Data Technology Co., Ltd.

Feng Daozhong, General Manager of Yantai Shared Data Technology Co., Ltd., focused on the smart agriculture sector and introduced the company’s self-developed full-spectrum hardware and software product matrix for farmland management and intelligent irrigation. The research team gained in-depth knowledge of the company’s product implementation models and bottlenecks restricting agricultural digitalization, and put forward targeted optimization ideas, offering decision-making references for enterprises rooted in county-level agricultural scenarios.

On-site research at Yantai Shared Data Technology Co., Ltd.

Zhang Xinglin, General Manager of Shandong Hanxin Technology Co., Ltd. — the first enterprise listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange within the park, shared the company’s growth trajectory from a software service provider to a comprehensive digital solution supplier. BNUBS faculty and students held discussions based on specific cases regarding pathways for digital technologies to empower the real economy, and exchanged extensive views on industrial digital transformation and integrated application of government and enterprise data.

 

 

Exchange forum at Shandong Hanxin Technology Co., Ltd.

At Yantai Institute of Network Technology, Director Wang Haiyang accompanied the research team to inspect representative achievements including the chemical industry big data platform and trusted data space, with focused discussion on mechanisms for technology transformation and implementation. The institute’s regular joint talent training model with governments and enterprises also provided replicable practical experience for BNUBS to deepen government-university-industry-research collaborative education.

 

 

Group photo after research at Yantai Institute of Network Technology

On July 15, faculty and student researchers visited Hengfeng Bank Data Center. During the forum, Shi Xuan, General Manager of the Operation & Maintenance Center under the FinTech Department of Hengfeng Bank, introduced the bank’s overall operation and maintenance architecture and data governance system, and shared initiatives for full-link security protection. Afterwards, faculty and students toured the computer room to observe financial data infrastructure and daily operation procedures up close.

 

On-site research in the computer room of Hengfeng Bank Data Center

The signing ceremony and field research mark a key initiative of BNUBS to proactively serve local digital economic development and deepen government-university-industry-research integration. Taking this opportunity, the School and participating organizations will leverage dual strengths of university disciplines and local practical platforms, carry out in-depth cooperation in market-oriented allocation of data factors, digital government development and innovative talent cultivation. Joint efforts will be made to contribute to the construction of Digital Yantai and Digital Shandong, and explore new pathways for cultivating interdisciplinary economic and management talents adaptable to the demands of the digital era.

Contributed by Yantai Big Data Bureau Research Team

Edited by Sun Yunchuan, Xu Ying

Reviewed by Sun Zhijun