5G infrastructure to fortify creative economy
The progress in 5G technology has broken digital-information transmission barriers in the 4G era, meeting cultural and creative needs that were previously difficult to reach. Photo: Lin Lin/PROVIDED TO CSST
On March 4, 2020, the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee proposed to quicken major projects and infrastructure construction in national plans while the positive momentum in the country’s epidemic response and economic development was being consolidated. The meeting set the stage for new infrastructure progress such as 5G, artificial intelligence, the industrial internet, Internet of Things, and data centers. Under a fresh economic situation, the new infrastructure development strategy thus further grabbed national attention.
High-quality development
New infrastructure construction concerns the science and technology field, especially the new generation of information technology. Its construction focuses more on innovative economic infrastructure represented by 5G technology, the internet, the Internet of Things, intelligence, and big data. The strategy commands dual attributes, namely fixed asset investment and innovation-driven basic element construction. Faster new infrastructure development will surely serve as China’s significant means to achieve a new round of stable economic and social growth, promoting reform, adjusting structure, benefiting people’s livelihoods, and preventing risks. It will also pave way for the Chinese economy to move from the era of the industrial economy to the digital economy.
5G technology comes from the integrated development of cutting-edge information and communication technology. 5G networks are the bedrock for the application of 5G technology. 5G infrastructure is an important digital infrastructure that enables the Internet of Everything, the fast and smart connection of everything. Presently, the digital economy and digital transformation has become an emerging battleground for all countries.
The digital economy represents a new form of economic development. Digital information resources act as key production factors, and a new generation of information and communication networks serve as important carriers for those factors. The widespread application of digital economic technologies and digital business models form a series of new economic activities, elevating efficiency and optimizing economic structures. As a significant part of the digital economy, the digital and creative industry should seize opportunities brought by new 5G infrastructure construction, further consolidate the industry’s foundation, and better its innovation environment. These interventions will inspire new development changes to take place, as new business formats expand.
Sector reforms
5G infrastructure speeds up new demands from the digital and creative industry. Progress in 5G technology has broken digital-information transmission barriers in the 4G era, meeting cultural and creative needs that were previously difficult to reach. For example, the Palace Museum achieves 5G full coverage and exerts 5G-powered cloud infrastructure functions. This integrated management and operation model fuels the protection and inheritance of refined Chinese traditions.
Also, in recent years, the integration of cultural and tourism consumption has created new demands in terms of experiences, technology, and creativity. The digital and intelligent methods supported by 5G technology have provided tourists with a more diverse and multi-dimensional experience. Meanwhile, cross-regional exchanges and cooperation have increased and global cultural integration has accelerated thanks to high speed, ultra-bandwidth, and low latency 5G transmission. In addition, 5G technology will power blockchain-based copyright protection, making it practical to safeguard copyrights in digital and creative industries.
5G infrastructure pushes the application of new scenarios in digital and creative industries. In the VR/AR arena, the use of 5G networks can make up for VR/AR digital products deficiencies in terms of merging experience and terminal mobility. It will promote the transformation and upgrade of digital and creative industries and the application of new scenarios in news communication, entertainment and games, cultural and travel integration, and beyond. Regarding high-definition video, integrating 5G technology with 4K/8K ultra-high-definition video has become a popular trend.
5G and its connected technologies in the fields of live video, film, and television, and real-time display are constantly developing, and have digital and creative applications with broad market prospects. In the gaming industry, the 5G network environment supplies players with greater exploratory experiences, continuously eases the loading pressure of gaming consoles, fortifies the security performance of the gaming environment, and explores the diversity and playability of gaming. In this way, it expedites the marketization of digital gaming products that follows the“survival of the fittest”principle.
5G infrastructure hastens digital and creative industries to transform their production models. First, it provides a model where everyone is motivated to become content producers. For example, fast 5G networks will inject enormous vitality into new content creation modes such as short videos, We-media, and live streaming. Digital and creative content production will display greater mobility, immediacy, and interaction, so that everyone can create and disseminate content products.
The second transformation deals with content customization models. For example, the fan economy, as a cultural and creative IP economy, is essentially a customized product designed by fan groups.
The third transformation touches upon digitized collaboration modes. As 5G infrastructure expands its reach, digital and creative consumers are putting forward increasingly categorized, comprehensive, and complex requirements for IP production. To meet their needs, content producers should specify a professional division of labor. Boosting digital collaboration through new technologies will gain importance.
New infrastructure accelerates the transformation of value distribution in digital and creative industries. The 5G era’s advancement urges the content industry to keep pace with the technology industry, and their integration should run deep. It also means more competition in sector profit distribution among the individual industrial chains. The digital and creative industries, due to integrated development patterns, will see a simpler industrial chain than under traditional conditions.
With 5G, the distance between the content production end and the consumption end will shorten (content production end—technology carrier—content consumption end), to ensure the simplicity of the industrial profit distribution chain. The second change in distribution relates to traditional cultural and creative industry markets based on content production and technology carriers. Technology carriers or technology platforms are often in a more favorable position. The decentralization effect will greatly reduce technology platforms’ value distribution authority as 5G grows more mature. An industrial value distribution model centered on content production will take shape.
New sector formats
Technological innovation, equipped with 5G infrastructure, will give birth to new business forms in digital and creative industries. 5G networks are not only the technical foundation for new infrastructure but also the core linking many emerging technologies. 5G along with big data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, Internet of Vehicles, smart centers, and other information network technologies, form a new network infrastructure. Meanwhile, 5G fabricates the foundation of technological innovation by linking emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, sensors, VR/AR, 4K/8K, and drones. Its integration with digital and creative content will help meet people’s growing yearning and develop new formats in digital and creative industries.
Sector integration will develop new business formats in the creative economy. The 5G network not only can promote the integrated innovation of other industries it supports and links, but also will push these industries to integrate, thereby generating new sector forms. In the modern economic system, the boundaries between sectors are blurring. Integrating different sectors will facilitate the efficiency of resource allocation, create new demands brought by blurring sector boundaries, and form new consumer markets.
In the 5G era, a global development path will nurture new digital and creative business formats. The most basic function of 5G network construction is to connect all things, and remarkably shorten physical distances. This is the most effective solution to geospatial challenges, which is globalization’s biggest obstacle. By advancing 5G infrastructure, countries will participate in global digital and creative trade based on their endowments, and modify domestic development strategies. They can develop emerging sector formats suitable for global digital and creative markets. Also, the formats are competitive on a global industrial level and conform with the fundamental interests of domestic sector development.
Chen Nengjun is from the School of Economics and Management at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Li Fengliang is from the Southern University of Science and Technology.
Edited by MA YUHONG
PRINT
CLOSE