The 2017 World Internet of Things Exposition (WIOT), set to open in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on Sept 10, will be bigger, more international, and more advanced than previous expos.

Wang Zhizhong, deputy secretary general of Jiangsu provincial government assured media personnel at a press conference on Sept 9.

Themed "IoT creates a new future", the expo will consist a main conference, 10 sub-forums, an exhibition of IoT applications and products, the third Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) International Smart Cities Conference and eight related events.

Top-rated Chinese and overseas institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Engineering, International Telecommunication Union, and Auto-ID Labs are invited to attend the event.

Prestigious IoT-related entrepreneurs and experts at home and abroad including Ma Yun, chairman of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba, Xiong Qunli, president of China Electronics Technology Group, and Kapil Raval, HP global vice president, will give keynote speeches at the main conference.

About 9,000 attendees will engage in discussions and exchange ideas on a range of topics, such as smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence, smart environmental protection, smart healthcare, information security, big data and finance.

The exhibition, covering 50,000 square meters, will display cutting-edge technologies and products of IoT, smart manufacturing, smart transportation, and smart life. It has attracted 522 companies from more than 20 countries and regions, including 23 Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, Google, IBM, and Siemens.

Gao Yaguang, vice mayor of Wuxi, said the expo is an integration of current technologies including IoT, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, and block chain.

Authorities announce at a press conference on Sept 9 that the 2017 World Internet of Things Exposition will open in Wuxi, Jiangsu province on Sept 10. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Participants at a press conference for the 2017 World Internet of Things Exposition to be held in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on Sept 10-13 [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]