GUIYANG — The China International Big Data Industry Expo 2022 is scheduled to take place online on May 26, the event organizers said on May 7.

For the past seven years, the event has been hosted by the city of Guiyang in Southwest China's Guizhou province. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will take the form of a cloud conference this year, the organizers said.

The expo serves as a vital platform for exchanges within the industry, and is a driving force for the global development of big data.

This year's one-day event features eight online forums covering topics such as the metaverse, data security and data circulation.

World-leading achievements in big-data technology and the corporate world will also be showcased, with 437 scientific and technological achievements collected so far.

As the country's first national big-data comprehensive pilot zone, Guizhou Province has been promoting the big-data industry as a backbone of its high-quality social and economic development.

According to the local government's plans, the total output value of the province's big-data and electronic information industry will exceed 350 billion yuan (about $52.5 billion) by 2025, with the digital economy accounting for around half of its GDP.