China Mobile chairman Yang Jie (pictured) cautioned wide differences between businesses in their access to computer power and ability to share data are major challenges to driving industrial transformation and applying AI. 

During Monday’s opening keynote, the operator identified major differences in the scale, quality and degree of integration in sharing data, while high-performance computing resources in different organisations and regions are not balanced. 

Another gap cited was different industries and groups and have varying abilities to master and apply AI technology. 

To bridge these gaps, Yang insisted operators must continue to expand 5G footprints to provide high-speed ubiquitous connectivity to all businesses and incorporate AI capabilities to “open up new paths for transformation”. 

“The safe and efficient provision of computing power should be accessible like water and electricity,” he added.