AliCloud & Foxconn Announce Support For Startups
AliCloud and Hon Hai’s Foxconn Technology Group announced on Wednesday a collaboration to foster small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) success. SMMEs will receive a headstart in commercializing innovative concepts through the Taofu Chengzhen (淘富成真) startup incubator program, which is jointly managed by Foxconn and AliCloud.
“Taofu Chengzhen can be described as a platform for startup innovation. When you have an idea, you need large scale growth to bring product to market quickly, serve to consumers quickly. Ultimately, we aim to help reduce the startup’s cycle for innovation.” Dr. Jian Wang, CTO of Alibaba Group said in the press conference in Hangzhou.
This program will include an internet marketing platform for entrepreneurs where AliCloud will contribute cloud computing and big data support via AliCloud, while Foxconn will offer best practices in design, development patents, and supply chain management capabilities. AliCloud and Foxconn will also collaborate with Intel, Zhubajie.com & Valley Capital to create a unique infrastructure to drive innovation and growth of SMMEs.
The incubator program, which has been on trial for six months, has successfully supported more than 280 business projects. Notable startups that have benefited from the incubator program include Silicon Valley’s Moov, a fitness wearable brand with growing popularity in the US and Europe.
Moov combines the use of hardware and software technology to equip its Moov Now wearable device with 3D motion capture and real-time interaction through artificial intelligence software. The Silicon Valley brand encountered challenges with its technology improvements and mass productions.
Through this program, Moov benefited from Foxconn recommendations on design along with its capabilities for rapid mass productions, while drawing on AliCloud’s global cloud computing capabilities allowed Moov to enter the China market easily.
“Alibaba Group is helping enterprises and startups progress by making computing services more accessible. The Computing Conference brings aspiring startups and established industry players together to help us further creativity and innovation across the cloud industry,” Wang said.
Quantum Cryptography Debut
AliCloud and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) also unveiled a public cloud solution for secure data communications through quantum cryptography that has put China on the map for quantum information technology. The announcement, made following a July 2015 partnership between the two organizations, aims to make the internet safer with modifications to internet security.
“It means that we put more importance on security. AliCloud aims to improve on its speed and security continuously. Quantum cryptography is more trustworthy on the internet, accordingly it is expected that it will improve on security greatly and more widespread by public. Second, it has lower interference from outside. In terms of commercial aspects, we believe many enterprises can benefit from it.” Wang said.
Quantum communications technology is currently the most secure encryption method known, and is immune to man-in-the-middle attacks (intercepted information), code-breakers, or other common hacking techniques. Small-scale trials have been successful to date, and AliCloud will conduct large-scale proofs-of-concept this year in preparation for commercialization.
Jianwei PAN, Professor and Executive Vice President of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and a CAS academician said, “The collaboration between AliCloud and CAS at the Quantum Computing Laboratory provided the perfect environment for creating a practical, reliable and completely secure quantum cryptography solution for communications.”
These announcements were made at The Computing Conference 2015, Alibaba Group’s largest-ever global cloud computing gathering, with nearly 20,000 developers and 3,000 technology startups in attendance this year. More than 200 marquee brands from all over the world participated at The Computing Conference including Intel, Docker, Mesosphere, Quixey, and Rovio, as well as AliCloud Marketplace Alliance Program partners Hong Kong’s PCCW, Singapore’s Singtel, and Dubai’s Meraas Holding. Over 20 major announcements were made during the annual networking platform for the global cloud computing industry.
Image Credit: Alibaba