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University of Macao's IOT project included in China's 973 ProgramMACAO, Nov 08, 2010 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- A research project on the Internet of Things (IOT), headed by the University of Macao (UM) Rector Zhao Wei, has been approved by China's Ministry of Science and Technology as a project under the "973 Program", the UM announced on Monday. Launched by the Chinese government in March 1997, hence the name "973", the program is also known as the National Key Fundamental Research Development Program. The strategic objective of this program is to address major scientific issues encountered in the economic and societal development of China, thereby providing technological support for the country's long-term development and gaining a head start in the fierce international competition. The majority of the research team members of the IOT project are from the UM, with the rest coming from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, Tongji University, and East China Normal University, according to the UM. Zhao said in a press release from the UM that this project, by far the highest-level IOT project in China, will not only go a long way towards enhancing UM's research capability, but also offers a chance for the UM to leave a mark on Macao and even the entire human society in economic, cultural, scientific, technological, and cultural arenas. Before taking the office of the UM rector, Zhao Wei has served as the director of the Division of Computer and Network Systems at the National Science Foundation of the United States. He initiated the first IOT research program in the U.S. and was in charge of approving funds for the first projects. The term "Internet of Things (IOT)" made its first appearance in a report issued by the International Telecommunication Union in 2005. According to the report, networks not only can connect people and allow people to obtain information about objects, but also can realize the communication between objects. When technologies are ready, IOT will have a sweeping influence on the world. By then, almost anything one can conceive of can be connected to a computer, from the most state-of-the-art satellites to a most mundane coffee machine. |