Alibaba Cloud Reveals Technological Advancements at its Computing Conference

Today (June 10, 2017) at its Computing Conference in Shanghai, Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, unveiled a number of technological advancements including a cloud-enabled Artificial Intelligence (AI) program - "ET Brain" for environmental management and an application programming interface (API) for visual recognition products. The company's global partner Docker also announced the launch of Docker Hub in China. Docker Hub is an internationally recognized tool that will significantly enhance efficiency for Chinese developers.

Harnessing technology for environmental benefit

One of the key advancements Alibaba Cloud brought to the world at this conference is "ET Environmental Brain", the company's AI solution that combines its expertise in data analytics with artificial intelligence (AI) and industrial Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities. The solution aims to add a new dimension to the management of resources and waste treatment, supporting businesses to achieve greater efficiency and sustainable growth.

"ET Environmental Brain forms the core of comprehensive information on the environment for a digitalized planet. By leveraging this powerful services, the government, enterprises and the public can all play collaborative roles in monitoring changes in our environment, managing emissions, tracking pollution and improving our ecosystem to create a better future for the human race," said Dr. Wanli Min, AI and Data Mining Scientist at Alibaba Cloud.

Amid the increasing awareness of sustainable growth and renewable resources, the ET Environmental Brain is part of Alibaba Cloud's ongoing commitment to positively contribute to society through cloud and AI technology.

Alibaba Cloud's visual recognition API

The vertical application of visual algorithms, another cloud-enabled technology, also has attracted a lot of attention at the conference. In May this year, Alibaba Cloud set a new world record for visual vehicle detection accuracy of 90.46% in the KITTI machine visual algorithms championship, the best-known industry contest of its kind.

In China, Alibaba Cloud sees immense potential in applying its award-winning visual recognition API in industries such as healthcare, finance, e-commerce, entertainment and manufacturing.

Alibaba Cloud aims to bring technological breakthroughs to image recognition and search, video analysis and video advertising to improve recognition accuracy and security, the authentication of images, and enrich customer experience by the creative use of augmented scenarios. Looking to the future, Alibaba Cloud will further strengthen its visual technology capability and expand its service offerings by collaborating with independent software vendors who play an important role in building out this new ecosystem.

Docker Hub launched in China

At the conference, Docker announced the launch of Docker Hub in China on the Alibaba Cloud platform. This further strengthens the partnership between two industry leaders to provide efficient tools in an open source environment to developers in China. Ensuring that the tools available are of the highest international standard and allowing developers to contribute back to the open source community will ensure that Chinese developers remain influential globally.

"We are pleased to deepen our partnership with Alibaba Cloud, following the successful launch of Docker Enterprise Edition in China on Alibaba Cloud. We have seen surging market demand for Docker technology from both the developer community and enterprise market. We are committed to growing our footprint in China and doing what is required to offer the best products to Chinese customers," said David Messina, Chief Marketing Officer at Docker.

Through Docker Hub, Chinese developers can build and deploy Docker images smoothly. It provides developers a centralized resource for container image discovery, distribution and change management, streamlining workflow automation throughout the development pipeline.

The Alibaba Cloud Computing Conference is one of the largest industry events in China. It comprises a series of conferences held in major cities across the country, culminating in a large annual conference in Hangzhou. The two-day Shanghai conference gathered more than 3,000 developers, industry leaders and practitioners to discuss the latest developments in cloud, data science, artificial intelligence, as well as its application in various industry sectors.