JD.com booth at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, USA. (Source: China News Service)
[European Times intern reporter Ning Jingjing reported] "At nine o'clock in the morning, the online shopping order was placed, less than ten minutes, the order was assigned to a warehouse near the suburbs of Beijing, less than an hour, the warehouse began to sort the goods in the order, before the end of the afternoon, in the beijing office received the goods delivered by the Jingdong Express brother." "This is a shopping scene that JD users are familiar with. Fast logistics and distribution allow goods to arrive in a day, and this efficiency is brought about by the strong technical support of JD.com, one of China's Internet giants.
"In the era of digital economy, everyone can feel the changes in life by scientific and technological progress every day, but it is difficult to detect these changes, many of which are brought about by AI (artificial intelligence), AIoT (artificial intelligence Internet of Things) and even 'cloud' services." Liu Zihao, vice president of JD Group and head of JD Cloud Ecological Business, described the penetration of cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing into modern life. After graduating with a Ph.D. in the United States, he joined IBM, worked in the IT Internet industry for more than 20 years, and joined JD.com in 2014. In April 2016, when JD Cloud officially entered the cloud market, Liu Zihao joined the JD Cloud team, fueling the tide of China's economic digital transformation, and the "cloud map" of his career was suddenly enlightened.
After studying and working in the United States for many years, Liu Zihao's English is very good, but Chinese expression is also fluent and humorous. "A lot of people don't think I'm like a returnee because I know the Chinese market very well and I know Chinese users. There are also many people who feel that I am not like a doctor because I do not fit the image of Dr. 'Home'. Liu Zihao said.
The picture shows Liu Zihao. (Image source: European Times UK edition)
Liu Zihao figuratively likens the cloud to the "electricity" of the digital age, which has penetrated into all aspects of digital life. On the "cloud", you can connect with applications in various industries, such as e-commerce, gaming, video, tourism, etc., and consumers are using the cloud all the time. He believes that in 20 or 30 years, humanity will live completely in the world of "clouds". When it comes to the current stage of development of the cloud computing industry, Liu Zihao believes that it is still in the early stages, although there are currently hundreds of cloud computing vendors, but it is likely that only a few manufacturers can provide services in the future, because this field is very challenging.
In April 2016, JD Cloud officially entered the public cloud market for commercial use. In September 2017, JD.com's cloud business was fully and rapidly launched, and began to provide users with a full range of cloud computing services. The main business that Liu Zihao is responsible for is the top-level software application layer of the cloud business, that is, the cloud ecology, which can realize the application of various industries, such as intelligent education, intelligent medical health, intelligent marketing, and intelligent Internet of Things, which he believes is very interesting and challenging.
As an e-commerce company, JD.com is currently at the forefront of China's e-commerce market share. Liu Zihao talked about the changes that JD Cloud has brought to the user experience and the company, "both affordable goods and quality services, which seems to be a pair of contradictions." But JD.com can understand customer needs and provide high-quality products, low-cost, high-efficiency technical output services. JD.com has set up warehouses across the country, covering 99% of China's population and optimizing locally according to consumer needs. For example, AI can analyze user portraits according to the user behavior of different regions, and adjust the storage amount of certain goods in this region in a timely manner, so that customers can buy them in time when they need it. Liu Zihao believes that this can also be regarded as one of the world's largest purchasing power realized through AI. At the same time, using the "technology empowerment package" based on cloud computing, JD Cloud is also planning and implementing a "smart city" with local governments to help government affairs processing and benefit services.
At present, Chinese Internet giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu are accelerating the layout of cloud computing business, and JD.com, which is also first-class among domestic Internet companies, is certainly not far behind. "Now JD Cloud, although it is not the top 3 in the cloud computing industry, is achieving catch-up with the front-runners. For example, in order to reduce network latency and ensure user experience, JD.com chooses the nearest data center to serve customers on cloud computing. Liu Zihao said that JD.com has strong capabilities in the operation of AIDC (Intelligent Internet Data Center) in China's e-commerce and even the Internet industry.
As cloud computing gradually becomes an enterprise IT infrastructure, on the application side, security has become a common concern of users, especially for finance, insurance and other industries with special attributes, security is the top priority. In November 2018, JD.com officially obtained the PCI-DSS (Third-Party Payment Industry Data Security Standard Certification) issued by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Committee in terms of security compliance, which is known as one of the most stringent financial data security certifications in the world. "JD Cloud currently has the technical service qualification related to cloud computing in e-commerce, logistics, finance, insurance and other industries, which is not easy to come by." Liu Zihao told reporters.
In addition to having the underlying data computing equipment and the top-level digital application to adapt to the needs of different industries, Liu Zihao believes that having the insight of the technology industry is the key to the success of the enterprise. "Cloud computing companies that understand the industry and respect the industry are the most needed in China's digital transformation tide."
(Editor: Xia Ying)