Beijing Women's Federation

A forum focusing on women’s research about artificial intelligence, a regular activity of the 2023 Zhongguancun Forum, was held in Beijing under the theme "The Empowerment of the New Era and the Future of Intelligence" from October 12-13. The objective is to consolidate the achievements of the 2023 ZGC Forum's parallel forum on women in sci-tech innovation, deepen the exchanges and collaboration among women sci-tech workers in major research fields, carry forward the spirit of scientists, and promote the popularization of scientific knowledge.

Attendees at the two-day forum on women and artificial intelligence

The two-day sub-forum was jointly held by Beijing Women's Federation (BWF), Beijing Association for Science and Technology and Beijing Academy of Science and Technology and undertaken by Beijing Women Scientists Association under the guidance of the ZGC Forum's Office.

It drew the attendance of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Gu Ying, president of Beijing Association for Science and Technology, and women sci-tech workers from Beijing-based research institutions, universities, hospitals and high-tech enterprises. They held extensive and in-depth discussions over artificial intelligence-related topics.

Those in attendance of the forum also included Zhang Yajun, Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group and President of the BWF; Wu Jianmin, President of Beijing Academy of Science and Technology; Liu Xiaokan, Vice-President of Beijing Association for Science and Technology; Vice-President of the BWF Tan Hong; and Yang Renquan, Deputy Party Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Haidian District’s Committee.

Zhang Yajun, Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group and President of the BWF, addresses the opening ceremony of the sub-forum on women and artificial intelligence.

In her speech at the opening ceremony, Zhang said that the 20th CPC National Congress has laid out a blueprint for building a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization and that women sci-tech workers have played an increasingly important role in enhancing the country's sci-tech strength. Zhang noted that BWF has given priority to the global frontiers of science and technology, national economic development, the major needs of the country, and the health and safety of the people. The federation has supported the capital city in the building of an international scientific center and a global highland of innovation and talent, and continuously advanced women-oriented sci-tech innovation. She called on women sci-tech workers to devote themselves to sci-tech innovation, and strive to make higher achievements in science, promote science-related knowledge and facilitate the commercialization of research results.

Liu Xiaokan, vice-president of Beijing Association for Science and Technology, addresses the opening ceremony of the event.

Liu said that the sub-forum is a parallel activity of the 2023 ZGC Forum and an important academic event during the 26th Beijing Sci-tech Exchanges Month. He hoped that the sub-forum will make full use of local resources to unite and lead women sci-tech workers in accelerating the capital city's development, facilitate the building of an international center of innovation, and promote academic exchanges as well as innovation.

The sub-forum consisted of five themed sections relating to academic frontiers, science popularization lectures, the commercialization of research results, future-oriented roundtable dialogues, and an exhibition on sci-tech results. It invited domestic and foreign experts to share their academic views in frontier sci-tech issues, forge sci-tech innovation consensus, facilitate the utilization of sci-tech findings and promote sci-tech knowledge.

Gu Ying, President of Beijing Association for Science and Technology, presents a report at the event.

During the side stage on frontier research topics, Gu, also a CAS academician, gave a report on the application of lasers in medical and healthcare sectors. She talked with participants about academic research and clinical service results on laser’s application as well as the latest utilization of remote laser healthcare and wearable medical products.

Zhao Xiaoguang, a researcher with the CAS Institute of Automation, delivers a report at the event.

Zhao Xiaoguang, a researcher with the CAS Institute of Automation, introduced the development of the AI sector, its in-depth exploration and application in the manufacturing industry. Celia Shahnaz, president of Women In Engineering (WIE) under the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), presented a report titled "Sustainable Development Empowers Women in Engineering.” Mona Jaber, an Internet of Things (IoT) expert at the Queen Mary University of London, spoke about the progress of her research on the IoT and machine learning.

A collage photo shows primary school students attending science popularization lectures during the event.

The side stage on science popularization drew the attendance of primary school students. Five teams from universities and research institutions exhibited their research results in mini-bionic robots, bionic fish-robots, long-distance heart-rate measurement technology, high-sensitivity light detection and optoelectronic signal conversion technology, and multi-legged robots, which fully raised the enthusiasm of teenage attendees towards science. Members of the five teams also held exchanges over AI sector in a special forum for youths.

Speakers give their presentations at the event.

In the salon on the commercialization of research results, representatives from Beijing Smart Future AI Innovation Base gave an introduction to their latest research findings. Xu Ying, deputy director of the CAS Aerospace Information Research Institute's navigation system department; Ma Nan, deputy director of the Intelligent Cognition and Self-control Engineering Center at Beijing University of Technology; and Song Miao, a distinguished professor with Concordia University, shared their research progress in Beidou Satellite Navigation System, interactive cognition-supported teaching approaches in the AI era, and AI-supported creative tools.

Scientists attend a roundtable session at the event.

The future-oriented roundtable session brought together experts and scholars from the CAS Institution of Automation, the CAS Aerospace Information Research Institute, the CAS Institute of Computing Technology, the CAS Institute of Software, the Acoustic and Cognitive Engineering Laboratory at Tsinghua University, and Beijing Computing Center, who engaged in talks about technological development and cross-discipline integration of AI and shared views about the trends of the AI industry.

A collage photo shows the hosts of various sections of the event.

Li Jing, Xu Qi, Li Yanqiu, Liu Qinglian, Dong Jing and Zhang Man, all officials and members of the board of directors of Beijing Association for Science and Technology, hosted various sections during the event. Nearly 800,000 people took part in the event via online platforms.

Attendees tour an exhibition on the sidelines of the sub-forum.

An exhibition was held to showcase sci-tech results and representatives of outstanding women sci-tech workers were organized to perform songs and give poetry recitation that encourage dedication to science.