In an interconnected world, most of what can be called major technological innovations are original breakthroughs driven by strong social and livelihood needs. The further development of industrial Internet technology should be more consciously in line with the needs of the people’s livelihood, so as to achieve a greater leap forward.

An index released recently by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that the development level of China’s industrial Internet platforms has improved comprehensively, showing a situation of traction demand for platforms, connectivity of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and radiation from coastal areas to the inland. The industrial Internet enables continuous transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry. Last year, the industrial Internet platform development index increased by 17.23 percent from the previous year, maintaining a growth rate of more than 15 percent for four consecutive years. At present, the industrial Internet development in our country presents the characteristics of large industrial scale, many fields and complete system structure, and the development prospects are good.

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When talking about industrial Internet, we should pay attention to both “industry” and “Internet”, both of which are indispensable. In the past, people used to define the modern mode of production since the Industrial Revolution in terms of “socialized mass production”, that is, general division of labor and large-scale manufacturing. The signature technologies of social mass production usually include two categories: one is marginal new technological inventions, and the resulting industrial enabling phenomena, such as steam engine, machine tool, automobile, etc.; The other is the general invention of new technology, and the resulting general industrial enabling phenomenon. The characteristics of the promotion path of the former is point-like diffusion, which is invented by several economic subjects first and then imitated by more and more production units gradually. The latter is characterized by widespread adoption. Once a new technology is invented, it is quickly used throughout the entire field of industrial production. Electricity and power grids fall into this category. After the invention of electric technology, almost all industrial production activities need electricity and grid support. The more advanced the industrial technology, the more dependent on electricity; After the production of semiconductor chips, the largest resource consumption is electricity. Most industrial activities cannot be sustained if they are taken off the grid.

Today, the equivalent of electricity is the Internet. The application of Internet technology in the field of production is mainly industrial Internet, and the application in the field of life is Internet-based smart phones. The use of Internet technology is not marginal but holistic. In social production and social life, it is almost impossible to walk without the Internet, and many public facilities such as scanning code payment cannot be used. This is a higher level and higher quality socialization phenomenon in human production and life. In such a socialized mass production, network disconnection is like power failure, people can not live and produce normally.

It can be seen that, different from marginal new technology, holistic new technology has a significant infrastructural nature, that is, once invented and used, it becomes a public facility. Internet technology has been used as a “public good” since its earliest days. No matter what kind of production subjects, no matter what kind of people, cannot do without the Internet, Internet technology-based smart phones. Internet technology can not only enable all kinds of technological innovation on a marginal basis, improve efficiency and promote structural upgrading, but also comprehensively improve the internal quality of socialized production and social interaction. High quality development is largely supported by the information technology of the Internet, and new industrialization is marked by the Internet and artificial intelligence technology based on the Internet, just as the second Industrial Revolution is marked by the use of electricity.