On Jan. 9th, 2021, a joint meeting of the Management and Academic Committee of Tsinghua University-Ningxia Yinchuan Joint Research Institute of Digital Water Management with the Internet of Water was held in the digital hall of the Nisha Building in Tsinghua University and the meeting hall in the Water Conservancy Bureau of Ningxia with a combination of online and offline modes.

The meeting was presided over by Shuning Zhen, Vice President of the Scientific Research Institute. Academician Jianmin Zhang, Director of the Management Committee of the joint research institute, Academician Guangqian Wang, Academician Bo Zhang, Xiaopeng Li, Deputy Mayor of Yinchuan, managers of the institute, representatives of special integrated project leaders, and heads & backbone representatives of joint open fund projects attended the meeting with a total of about 40 participants.

Scene of the Meeting

The participants listened to the report delivered by Vice President Jiahua Wei on the work summary of the joint research institute and the progress of scientific research projects. Focusing on the aspects of organization construction, scientific research, demonstration application and talent team, the report combs the annual operation of the joint research institute and reviews the key work and representative achievements in the previous year. During the year and a half since the establishment of the joint research institute, it launched key technical research of ‘Internet +’ urban and rural water supply and an overall plan of digital water management with the Internet of water in Ningxia, which met the needs of people's livelihood, served the national strategy, and played an important role in demonstration support and technical guidance. The comprehensive report gained unanimous recognition from experts.

Academician Bo Zhang’s Speech

Academician Jianmin Zhang presided over the seminar session. The future direction and key work of the joint research institute were warmly discussed and deployed by experts and leaders such as Yuanyuan Li, Vice President of China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute, Academician Bo Zhang and Academician Guangqian Wang. Vice President Yuanyuan Li firstly pointed out that the joint research institute should focus on the strategic needs of the high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin and the construction of the Ningxia Pioneer Demonstration Zone, take full consideration of overall layout and pay attention to staged output. The implementation of major projects for national water network, the intelligence upgrading and transformation of new infrastructure construction, hydraulic engineering and infrastructure, which were put forward in the Fifth Plenum of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, were also reported. Academician Bo Zhang elaborated the differences between ‘+ Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘Artificial Intelligence +’. He pointed out that the four key elements of artificial intelligence are knowledge, data, algorithm and calculation. Based on the experience of the Internet, we should start with the standardization framework of construction system and strive to improve the level of informatization and intelligence. Academician Jianmin Zhang emphasized the importance of organizational vision, service objectives, opportunities and challenges. He advocated that the work of institute should be courageous to take the lead while keeping its feet on the ground. Academician Guangqian Wang proposed to help Ningxia truly realize the first step and preliminary test based on the real situation of Ningxia in accordance with the national strategic requirements. It was also advised to play the role of the Internet of water using the Internet as a benchmark. Yahua Wang, Vice Dean of School of Public Policy & Management, Professor Quanjun Wang from the School of Engineering, University of Melbourne, Zhenzhong Han, Chief Engineer of China Irrigation and Drainage Development Center, and Jingshan Wang, Chief Engineer of the Water Conservancy Bureau of Ningxia also made relevant comments and put forward ideas and suggestions for the future development of the institute. Finally, Xiaopeng Li, Vice Mayor of the Yinchuan Municipal Government, stated that: 1. The work of the research institute must be consistent with the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives through the Year 2035, be based on local conditions, face the whole country and embrace a worldwide view; 2. The department linkage mechanism should be formed to coordinate or integrate resources and promote the implementation of projects; 3. Great efforts are in need to create a national innovation highland for digital water management with the Internet of water and build a demonstration platform for scientific and technical innovation.