Xi Lifeng from Shanghai Jiao Tong University: "Integration of Digitalization and Intelligence for an Innovative and Stronger Future"

At HUAWEI CONNECT 2025 (September 19, 2025), Xi Lifeng, Executive Vice President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), delivered a keynote speech titled "Integration of Digitalization and Intelligence for an Innovative and Stronger Future," sharing the university's practices and achievements in digital and intelligent transformation from multiple perspectives.

AI Enables Innovative Development

Driven by the digital and intelligent wave, SJTU, a 129-year-old university, has reshaped its disciplines, including engineering, science, life medicine, humanities and social sciences, and interdisciplinary disciplines. At the same time, it innovatively proposed the three-zone model of organized scientific research. The "centralized zone" is oriented to systematic basic research in line with strategic orientation. The "free zone" is oriented to exploratory basic research towards scientific frontiers, and the "integration zone" is oriented to applied basic research to meet industry requirements. The innovation platform for industry-education integration built in collaboration with Huawei has become a practice model for industry-oriented applied basic research.

SJTU is committed to cultivating the new generation of talents with AI literacy for the country, and has launched the university-level AI Ten-Point Strategy, focusing on the leap in the AI discipline, AI for Science seed plan, AI special action, smart liberal arts development for improvement, and AI for Engineering.

Now, the university's scientific research computing facilities have covered all major disciplines. More than 500 teaching courses have undergone AI-powered transformation, and the utilization rate of the university-level computing platform has remained above 90% for years, nearly fully saturated. Faced with the rapid growth of computing power requirements, the university decided to work with ecosystem partners to build the intelligent computing platform "Zhiyuan-1". This platform addresses many problems in the construction of computing facilities in universities in an efficient and intensive manner. From early public computer rooms to today’s high performance computing clusters, the university-level computing platform "Jiaowosuan" has developed into a top multi-architecture computing power foundation in China. The "Zhiyuan-1", which is soon to be put into use, will become the largest intelligent computing platform among Chinese universities, with key performance indicators such as 633 Petaflops computing power and 13PB storage capacity.

Building a "Computing Power Factory" with Huawei

Launched in September, 2025, the "Zhiyuan-1" intelligent computing platform features Ascend AI processors and Kunpeng servers, with ModelArts AI development platform layered on top. This platform will provide out-of-the-box AI application services for teachers and students, covering the entire chain of scientific research training, teaching & practical training, and course experiments, becoming a true “computing power factory”.

To maximize the value of the computing platform, a professional IT team is key. SJTU has established a computing service team with nearly 30 core members, creating the "SJTU model" of computing services. In the teaching field, the model enables the new smart education model with AI + HI at its core. In the scientific research field, it practices the new way of smart scientific research based on the "computing + X" concept. In the management field, it creates a new smart campus pattern powered by AI.

Talent cultivation is the core function of a university. SJTU is restructuring the talent cultivation model with "AI + HI". It provides students with personalized and intelligent learning experience through innovative tools such as the online teaching system Canvas, AI teaching assistant, and AI academic advisor. The integration of digital and school teachers has built an "HI + AI interactive and integrated classroom", providing strong support for cultivating talents in the new era.

Joining Hands to Embrace an Innovative and Stronger Future

Computing is profoundly transforming scientific research paradigms. SJTU pioneered the mechanism featuring disciplinary integration and labor division and collaboration, lowering the barriers to computing applications. For example, the research team led by Professor Xiao Xiang used the human occupied vehicle "Fendouzhe" to collect samples systematically from the Mariana Trench and Yap Trench at the depth of 6,000–11,000 meters. The team established the world's only database of hadal microorganisms and identified a large number of hadal prokaryotic microorganisms, most of which were previously unknown. To explore how these hadal organisms survive extreme conditions, the research team and the computing team created a full-chain scientific research model from deep-sea sampling and genetic sequencing to data analysis and laboratory verification. The model also reflects the university's advantages in the cross-integration of marine science and equipment, life science, and AI. In the past five years, more than 80 self-developed scientific computing software have been running efficiently on the "Jiaowosuan" platform, helping generate multiple world-class scientific research achievements.

The construction of a modern campus governance system and governance capabilities also relies on information technologies. The independently developed "Jiaowoban" app and Digital Employee app of SJTU enable online service transactions, AI-based voice interaction, and HarmonyOS adaptation, becoming a comprehensive mobile service platform for teachers and students. The intelligent campus governance is steadily advancing, providing more convenient and efficient services for teachers and students.

Finally, Xi Lifeng stated that moving forward, SJTU and Huawei will continue to deepening strategic cooperation to build a sustainable, self-evolving, and world-class AI application ecosystem, and jointly explore collaborative innovation in scenarios such as AI + teaching, scientific research, and management. SJTU will work with industry partners such as Huawei with an open mind, scale new heights, achieve excellence through continuous growth, and draw a new blueprint for digital and intelligent transformation in higher education.