The new infrastructure consolidates the advanced material foundation of a modern country

At present, human society has entered the fourth industrial revolution, and new infrastructure is becoming a key support and important material guarantee for a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. China's economy and society have turned to a stage of high-quality development, and it is urgent to build new infrastructure to lead and support the development of advanced productive forces. The "14th Five-Year Plan" period is a key five-year period for the comprehensive layout and construction of new infrastructure. We should base on national conditions, make overall plans and look into the future, clarify the scope, development goals, main tasks and safeguard measures of new infrastructure construction and development, and coordinate the construction and development of new infrastructure nationwide.

First, grasp the essence and deeply understand the connotation and characteristics of new infrastructure

(1) New infrastructure is accompanied by a new round of industrial transformation.

Throughout the history of human economic development, every round of industrial reform will give birth to new infrastructure and promote the upgrading of traditional infrastructure. The accelerated development of new infrastructure is the necessary material basis for the wide popularization of new technologies and new production factors in the whole society, and it is also the key support for the rapid growth of new products, new forms of business and new economy. At present, the fourth Industrial Revolution is booming, the digital economy is accelerating the deep integration with the real economy, data has become a key factor of production, and technological evolution and upgrading and economic and social development have promoted the formation and growth of new infrastructure.

The new infrastructure is a material engineering facility that is guided by the new development concept, driven by technological innovation, and based on the information network, and provides basic and public services in digital transformation, intelligent upgrading, and integrated innovation. Information infrastructure, integration infrastructure and innovation infrastructure constitute the main framework system of the current new infrastructure. Information infrastructure mainly refers to the infrastructure generated based on the evolution of a new generation of information technology, such as 5G, Internet of Things, data centers, artificial intelligence, satellite communications, blockchain infrastructure, etc. Integrated infrastructure mainly refers to the infrastructure form formed after the intelligent transformation of traditional infrastructure by applying the new generation of information technology, including the new production facilities represented by the industrial Internet, intelligent transportation logistics facilities, and intelligent energy systems. And new social facilities represented by smart people's livelihood infrastructure, smart environment and resource facilities, and smart city infrastructure. Innovation infrastructure refers to the infrastructure that supports scientific research, technological development, and the development of new products and services.

(2) The new infrastructure has distinct characteristics that are different from the traditional infrastructure.

In addition to the general characteristics of infrastructure such as foundation, publicity and strong externality, the new infrastructure has many distinct characteristics that are different from the traditional infrastructure, which is the basic logic and starting point for formulating the new infrastructure policy:

First, most of the new infrastructure is still in the early stages of development. Unlike traditional infrastructure, which has gradually matured after 100 years of evolution and development, new infrastructure has emerged in recent years, and its leading technology, product form, market demand, supporting industries, and business model are all in the cultivation stage and have not yet been stabilized. This means that the planning and construction of new infrastructure should focus on the long-term, many new infrastructure does not yet have the basis for large-scale commercial deployment, and new infrastructure should be cultivated in terms of technology and application.

Second, the natural monopoly of much of the new infrastructure has fallen sharply. From the perspective of technical engineering, traditional infrastructure must be used in a one-time large-scale investment, and the initial investment cost is huge. The new infrastructure is mostly built on the information network, which can achieve "one point of access, the whole network service", which makes its investment scale more flexible according to changes in demand, and the initial investment threshold is significantly reduced. More enterprises can enter the new infrastructure market to compete, but at the same time, it also brings blind investment, repetitive construction, and difficult to unify technical standards.

Third, the speed of technological innovation in new infrastructure is fast. Traditional infrastructure technology is relatively mature and upgraded slowly, while the information technology supported by new infrastructure is rapidly evolving and upgrading, and is constantly interwoven and integrated with traditional infrastructure technology. The overall technical system is continuously innovated and optimized, and infrastructure needs iterative development and upgrading. Building and operating new infrastructure requires a large number of innovative high-tech companies and talents, and the formation of the appropriate financing, regulatory and development environment, which is a long-term systematic project.