Promoted by the National Cyberspace Administration of China and hosted by the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province, the “Straight to Wuzhen” Global Internet Competition is a specific session dedicated to the digital economy within the World Internet Conference. It aims to promote international cooperation and innovation.

On 21 October, the semi-finals were held both offline in the Chinese city of Jiaxing and online with simultaneous live streaming. A total of 27 startups from all over the world presented their innovative projects to a jury of investors, entrepreneurs, researchers and academics.

Smart Healthcare as well as Internet and its applications for industry, the consumer market, and public administrations were the main technology focuses of the competition. The main key technologies showcased were related to artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data.

The Italian startup SoftMining reached the semifinals and presented its innovative solutions which make use of artificial intelligence in drug design.