Top 10 Big Data Trends Shaping China’s Data Industry in 2023

With China's big data industry policies becoming more comprehensive and its foundation strengthening, the 2023 Big Data Industry Development Conference was held in Beijing from June 26‑28, 2023, where He Baohong of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology presented the "2023 Big Data Top Ten Keywords".

The ten keywords, derived from long‑term research and expert input, reflect the current hot directions across the data lifecycle, which includes data resourceization, governance, assetization, development and application, circulation, market construction, and security. This year, four keywords focus on data development and application, two on the data market, and two on data security, highlighting business enablement, internal‑external integration, and a continued emphasis on security.

Keyword 1: Lake‑Warehouse Integration – A New Fusion Stage for Data Platforms

Enterprises are combining data lakes and warehouses on a single platform to meet diverse storage and analytics needs, but this architecture suffers from high costs, latency, consistency issues, and operational complexity. Lake‑warehouse integration merges the low‑cost storage of lakes with the processing power of warehouses, offering unified storage, seamless task scheduling, and open interfaces, driving growing market demand from vendors such as Amazon, Alibaba Cloud, and Tencent Cloud.

Keyword 2: Data Assetization – Joint Academic‑Industry Advances

Guided by the "Data Twenty Articles" policy released in December 2022, efforts focus on data asset registration, valuation, accounting treatment, and exchange platforms. Notable practices include data asset registration by exchanges, valuation models applied by banks, and accounting standards for data resources. The CICT cloud big data lab has contributed standards for data valuation, quality assessment, and maturity models for data asset operations.

Keyword 3: DataOps – Standards‑Driven Large‑Scale Adoption

DataOps integrates agile and lean principles into data development, creating automated pipelines that combine development, governance, and operations. In 2022, CICT and leading enterprises formed a DataOps standards working group, publishing a capability framework, detailed standards, and a practice guide. Over 130 institutions have joined the DataOps community, demonstrating nationwide scaling.

Keyword 4: Data Services – Core of Data‑Middle‑Platform Strategy

Data‑middle‑platforms provide self‑service analytics, model management, API access, and metric/tag management. Building a robust data‑service system involves diversified service modes, a unified portal, and full‑lifecycle operation management. Standards such as the Data‑Middle‑Platform Capability Maturity Model now include data‑service capabilities, with pilots at Zhejiang Mobile and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Keyword 5: Intelligent Augmented Analysis – AI‑Powered Data Insight

Intelligent analysis tools leverage machine learning and natural language processing to automate data preparation, insight discovery, and result sharing. Products such as Microsoft PowerBI, Baidu SugarBI, and Guanyuan BI integrate large‑model capabilities, enabling conversational interaction, automatic chart generation, and narrative insights, thereby lowering the barrier for non‑technical users.

Keyword 6: Data Ethics – Pillar of Digital‑Economy Governance

Rapid growth of big data and AI brings challenges such as targeted pricing, privacy breaches, and misuse. Since 2021, China has issued laws on data security, personal information protection, and technology ethics, while the United States has advanced its own data‑ethics framework. Ongoing efforts aim to build a comprehensive governance system involving government, enterprises, and society.

Keyword 7: Data Basic System – Unlocking Data‑Factor Value

The "Data Twenty Articles" establish a foundational system covering data property rights, circulation mechanisms, benefit distribution, and governance, providing the structural backbone for releasing data‑factor value while ensuring security and privacy.

Keyword 8: Public Data Licensing – Towards Scale and Standardization

Following the "Data Twenty Articles," regions such as Beijing, Hainan, Guizhou, and Chengdu have piloted public‑data licensing models, while local data groups and industry agencies launch services like electronic social security cards and aviation data portals. Standardization remains a challenge, requiring further normative work.

Keyword 9: Data Security Risk Assessment – Key Governance Tool

As data markets mature, security risk assessment becomes essential. Guided by national policies and CICT’s framework—covering system management security, data security, and application security—organizations can evaluate and mitigate risks, supporting healthy digital transformation.

Keyword 10: Data Outbound – Three Practical Paths

With the 2023 implementation of the Personal Information Outbound Standard Contract, regions issue guidelines and pilots for cross‑border data transfer, complementing personal information protection certification and providing concrete pathways for secure data export.

Overall, the ten keywords span policy, concepts, security, and technology, illustrating a healthy, policy‑driven, and innovation‑rich big‑data ecosystem in China, with the CICT cloud big data lab actively advancing related initiatives.