MAM
China Expands Global Technological Ecosystem Efforts with Open-Source Blockchain Network and AI Modeling Platform
China has been making significant strides in its efforts to create global technological ecosystems, with recent developments including the launch of a global blockchain network and an open-source artificial intelligence (AI) modeling platform. These initiatives, as reported on the WatcherTechno website, are part of China’s ongoing endeavors to bolster its economy after periods of lockdown and disruption. The nation’s government and tech sector have been collaborating to spur economic growth and innovation, with announcements of multi-trillion-dollar plans for high-tech infrastructure development and strategic investments from tech giants Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent.
While China aims to rival the United States in technological leadership, it’s also investing in initiatives aimed at fostering global ecosystems. In the past week, two key announcements have been made to further this goal: the Chinese government unveiled the international Blockchain Service Network (BSN), and Zhejiang University in Eastern China launched the open-source AI platform named Dubhe.
The Blockchain Service Network (BSN), a government-led project developed by Beijing Red Date Technology, has announced plans to deploy its international network starting August 10th. The BSN’s mission is to enable decentralized application (dapp) developers to create new blockchain applications as easily as assembling Lego bricks, thereby fostering a rapid development of a global ecosystem for developers and users alike.
As states WatcherTechno, BSN data centers are now integrated with six major decentralized blockchains: Tezos, NEO, Nervos, IRIS net Cosmos, Ethereum, and EOS. Developers on these public networks can deploy nodes and applications using BSN’s data storage, bandwidth, and other resources.
It’s worth noting that resistance from some governmental members within BSN to adding six international blockchains has led to the network’s division into BSN-China and BSN-International. However, this is unlikely to impede the overall progress of BSN.
Meanwhile, Zhejiang Lab launched the open-source AI platform Dubhe on Saturday, aiming to create a powerful modeling platform that fosters a collaborative global AI ecosystem and accelerates the development of machine learning models.
Named after Dubhe, one of the seven bright stars forming the Big Dipper and a symbol of wisdom in Chinese culture, the platform offers research and development teams four main advantages: a high-performance basic computing environment, a comprehensive AI development toolkit, integration of AI model deployment across Edge, Cloud, and terminals, and an intelligent collaborative execution system.
Developed by nearly 100 researchers, the project is supported by numerous partners, including Alibaba Cloud, Ant Financial, Hikvision, Sense Time, Deep Glint, China Construction Bank, Ant Work, and Ecovacs Robotics. Zhejiang Lab itself was founded in 2017 by the Chinese government, Zhejiang University, and Alibaba Group.
The open-source AI platform is designed for six key research and development areas: intelligent vision, intelligent transportation, intelligent finance, smart cities, intelligent healthcare, and intelligent robots. Its foundational structure provides access to embedded machine learning models and vast volumes of big data.
While it remains uncertain whether the development of global ecosystems will raise similar concerns among Dubhe members, as observed with BSN, the presence of multiple state-involved stakeholders may elevate the risk of conflicting interests.
Ecosystem-driven endeavors led by Chinese tech companies, naturally, encounter fewer political hurdles. For instance, multinational company Baidu launched its open-source autonomous driving platform, Apollo, in 2017, which has since become the world’s largest open-source autonomous driving platform, counting BMW, Ford Motor Co, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Honda among its partners.
Irrespective of ownership and structure, China’s growing number of initiatives in open technological platforms positions it to increasingly engage researchers, developers, and enterprises worldwide in technological ecosystems under China’s guidance.
MAM
Debkumar Dasgupta joins Dangal TV as Head of Syndication
Veteran broadcast executive to drive international and national content sales
MUMBAI: Debkumar Dasgupta, a seasoned broadcast media professional with over 30 years in the industry, has taken charge as head of syndication at Dangal TV, overseeing both international and national markets.
Dangal TV, owned by Enterr10 Television Network, is a popular 24-hour Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC). Launched in 2009 originally for Bhojpuri movies, it has since pivoted to Hindi entertainment, with a focus on family dramas, mythology, and crime shows catering to both urban and rural audiences.
Dasgupta brings a formidable track record in content acquisition, syndication sales, and P&L management across ME, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. His career spans top media organisations including IndiaCast Media, Viacom18, MTV Networks, Catvision Products and Tee-Men’s.
Most recently, he was with GoQuest Media as group partnership and strategy head, managing partnerships and monetisation strategies across the region. He also served as vice president – content acquisition and partnership for Asia and Africa, negotiating deals for Turkish dramas and other high-demand content.
Earlier stints include senior vice president and business head roles at IndiaCast Media Distribution, steering ME&A and global syndication sales, and boosting the reach of Viacom18 channels such as Colors, MTV India, Colors Rishtey and News18 India across Asia-Pacific, South Asia, ME, Africa, CIS, CEE and Latin America.
Dasgupta began his media journey as senior director – network development at MTV Networks India, managing channel carriage and affiliate revenues, before moving into content sales and international business with Viacom18. He started in cable TV sales with Catvision Limited, handling nationwide dealer and distributor networks.
Known as a creative change agent, Dasgupta has consistently driven revenue growth, market share expansion, and efficiency improvements, combining deep market insights with hands-on leadership.
With his global expertise and strong cross-functional experience across sales, legal, marketing, programming, logistics and finance, Dangal TV is set to strengthen its content syndication footprint and expand its international reach under his leadership.
Dasgupta’s appointment signals an aggressive push to leverage ethnic content opportunities and emerging markets, ensuring Dangal TV keeps pace in an increasingly competitive broadcast ecosystem.
