"Guizhou is using big data to create the future." On May 26, during the China International Big Data Industry Expo 2023, former Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia, Ante Simonic, highly praised Guizhou's achievements in big data industry in an interview, saying that big data industry is of great significance to Guizhou, China and even human society.

At the "Smart City Forum for International Friendship Cities", participants shared their views around the theme of the Expo- "Integrating Digital and Real Economies, Unlocking the Future with Computing Power", and Ante Simonic was one of them.

This was the second time that Ante Simonic had participated in the Big Data Expo since 2016. After a 7-year hiatus, he was impressed again by Guizhou's remarkable achievements in the big data industry when taking part in the forum activities and visiting exhibition halls filled with "black technologies", and was even more amazed at the great changes that have taken place in Guizhou in recent years.

With the help of digital technology, Guizhou has realized multi-level telemedicine, allowing rural people to receive medical services from experts of major hospitals in central cities through video diagnosis. As a doctor and professor of medicine, Ante Simonic said that the remote networks has broken regional limits and made it possible for patients in remote areas to receive better medical services.

"From telemedicine to the real economy, from agriculture to science, digital technologies including cloud computing and big data have promoted scientific development. The world today is characterized by a rapid renewal of knowledge in all fields, and digital technology has produced a profound impact in all areas of human activity," he said.

When talking about what big data can do for China and the world, Ante Simonic said that China can use it to strengthen infrastructure safety monitoring. “This is very realistic.” 

"You built the largest bridge in my hometown." Ante Simonic said that not long ago, China assisted Croatia to build the Peljesac Bridge, the largest bridge in the area. "As the province with the most bridges in China, Guizhou is also known as the 'Bridge Museum’ and is of the best class in bridge construction." How to perform maintenance work to so many huge buildings? Ante Simonic believed that big data could give an answer. "Big data can be used to accurately control the quality of products and ensure safety of infrastructure."

After learning about Guizhou and China's achievements in the big data industry from multiple views, Ante Simonic said, “ It is the right time to hold this Expo.” As he put it, Guizhou is a big data center of southwest China and is determined to become a hub for big data in China and even the world. "It can be said that Guizhou is using big data to create the future.”

When it comes to the China-Croatia cooperation in big data, Ante Simonic said that the two countries can work together to create more possibilities in education area with the help of digital technology.

He added that experts, policymakers, and stakeholders from all over the world gathered here to exchange frontier ideas, technologies, and intellectual property rights, which need to be disseminated through education. “The Expo is like a platform through which advanced technologies can be delivered to the world.”