The Technology Innovation Conference, held in Shanghai's Jiading district on Sept 15, brought together officials, scholars and start-up firms, to discuss issues concerning innovation mechanisms and technological innovation.

To promote innovation in industries, Jiading has developed a system connecting planning, guidance, research, enterprise-led transformation, funds, industrial parks and results; in its initial stages, it has formed industry clusters including integrated circuits and the internet, new energy and smart vehicles, advanced medical facilities and robots, according to Ma Chunlei, Party secretary of Jiading district.

Jiading has been making an effort to build traditional local companies into tech firms and establish engineering and technological centers, with a view to enabling the companies to innovate independently, he added.

Li Yizhong, a former minister at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, stressed that users should play a more active role in the R D of new products. More importantly, the companies should continue to invest heavily in innovation as well as in training.

Competitiveness resides in core talents and technologies, declared Zeng Tu, founder of Business Big Data. He went on to propose the utilization of big data, which can not only help remedy shortcomings, but also offer more resources to competitive enterprises.