14 DAY TRIAL // China is slowly becoming a hostile environment for Microsoft, as the central government has recently banned Windows 8 and pushed the company into an anti-trust probe, but Redmond has no intention to abandon its investments plans in the country.
As part of its strategy to make the most of China’s growth, Microsoft is also looking to build smart cities in the country and thus bring its products closer to local residents.
This might come as a surprise for many given the fact that Microsoft is having really big problems with Chinese authorities, which could in the end lead to a hefty fine for the company, but in an announcement today it says that its smart city development plan has already been approved by several provinces.
What is a smart city?
Basically, the smart city concept is based on the same idea as the Internet of Things approach is, trying to make everything in a specific location around the world be based on technology.
Obviously, this could help Microsoft make its products available to more residents, which is critical for the company, especially in such a difficult environment as China.
A smart city includes sensor-based infrastructure, improved network capabilities, and what Microsoft calls a process of “creating intelligence from data.”
“While this is a critical foundational step, limiting the conversation to infrastructure and analytics misses an enormous opportunity to unlock the human potential within a city,” the company says.
Basically, the plan is to make the city rely more on technology and tackle residents’ needs faster based on products and innovations that could promote a people-first approach.
Partnership with Chinese provinces
Microsoft has already joined forces with several provinces and cities, including Yunnan, Zhuzhou, Changchun, Yangzhou, and Wenzhou, all of which have agreed to be included in the company’s CityNext initiative supposed to create smart cities.
“In Yunnan, the Microsoft and provincial government collaboration is focused on Informatization and development of the minority-language-based IT industry, which is a unique value of the province as its acts as China’s gateway to minority-language-speaking countries in South East Asia. Development of this industry positions Yunnan to serve the IT services needs not just for China but also for these countries, demonstrating the high local relevance of the strategic cooperation with Microsoft,” the company points out in the announcement.
In the meantime, Microsoft still struggles to end an anti-trust investigation started by Chinese authorities claiming that the company didn’t disclose all compatibility issues of Windows and Office.
The company has been given a 20-day deadline to issue a response to these accusations, so more information will be provided in the coming weeks.