On 31 December 2020, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) issued the White Paper on the Identification and Resolution System of Industrial Internet (hereinafter referred to as White Paper). The White Paper, which builds on the Guidelines on the Establishment of an Integrated Standardization System for Industrial Internet, provides a summary of the state of play of the industrial Internet identification and resolution system, at the same time identifying new standardization requirements for industrial Internet scenarios, and outlining a set of suggestions to improve the existing standards system.

Specifically, the White Paper divides the industrial Internet identification and resolution standards into eight categories: (i) basic generic technologies, (ii) coding and storage, (iii) identification collection, (iv) resolution, (v) interactive processing, (vi) equipment and middleware, (vii) heterogeneous identification interoperability, and (viii) application. These categories are further divided into 25 subcategories. In terms of standardization development, the White Paper encourages the simultaneous development of:

  • National standards: the National Technical Committee 485 on Communication of the Standardization Administration of China (SAC/TC485) is in charge for the research and development.
  • Sectoral standards: the relevant research and development can rely on the industrial Internet identification and resolution work group (ST8/WG3) of the China Communications Standards Association (CCSA).
  • Association standards: the standard group and identification group of the Alliance of Industrial Internet can take the responsibility for the research of relevant standards.

At present, China has completed 8 national standards for industrial Internet identification and resolution. In addition, there are 5 national standards, 64 sector standards, 54 association standards under research, involving more than 150 enterprises and institutions.

In the future, the White Paper may serve as an important reference for the Chinese government to carry out the development of standards for industrial Internet identification and resolution, and to contribute to the development of new Guidelines on the Establishment of Integrated Standardization System for Industrial Internet.

Background:

In January 2019, MIIT and SAC jointly issued the Guidelines on the Establishment of Integrated Standardization System for Industrial Internet, clarifying the content of the industrial Internet identification and resolution system, and at the same time pointing out that by 2025, a standards system shall be established, covering key technologies, products, management and application requirements of the industrial Internet, and keeping pace with the development of international advanced standards. The Guidelines outlined a total of 50 standardization projects for industry Internet identification and resolution, covering six main fields such as code and storage, identification collection, resolution, interactive processing, equipment and middleware, and heterogeneous identification interoperability. Among these 50 standardization projects, 8 national standards have already been completed.

CCSA is China’s core organization for the development of communication standards; it also acts as the secretariat of the National Technical Committee 485 on Communication of the Standardization Administration of China (TC485). The industrial Internet identification and resolution work group under TC485 has, so far, carried out 12 working group meetings to discuss and submit relevant standardization project proposals and documents, which involve fields such as electricity, photovoltaic, ships and food.

The Alliance of Industrial Internet was set up in February 2016 by more than 100 entities from fields including industry, information and communication technology and Internet. At present, it has more than 1600 members, and has published 58 white papers and research reports, and 12 association standards. Therefore, the Alliance has already become an influential social association in China’s industrial Internet field.