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In todays China, behemoths like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are out of favor, but little giants are on the rise.

Thats the designation for a new generation of startups that have been selected under an ambitious government program aimed at fostering a technology industry that can compete with Silicon Valley. These often-obscure companies have demonstrated theyre doing something innovative and unique, and theyre targeting strategically important sectors like robotics, quantum computing and semiconductors.

Wu Gansha won the little giants title for his autonomous driving startup after a government review of his technology. That gave the Beijing company, Uisee, an extra dose of credibility and financial benefits. Last year, it raised more than 1 billion yuan ($157 million), including money from a state-owned fund. Its also become a unicorn, with a valuation of at least $1 billion.

Its an honor to wear the little giant label, Wu said. The essence of the project is that the companies must possess some specialty that others dont have.

The program has been around for more than a decade, but it has taken on new prominence after Beijing launched a sweeping crackdown against leading companies like Alibaba and Tencent. The little giants label has become a valued measure of government endorsement, a signal for investors and employees that the companies are insulated from regulatory punishment. Chinese President Xi Jinping has given his personal blessing to the program.

This is helpful to startups in many ways: Its a subsidy. Its a grant. Its an honor. Its a stamp of approval, said Lee Kai-Fu, founding managing director of the venture firm Sinovation.

The program is key to the Chinese Communist Partys ambitious strategy to reposition the countrys technology industry. For two decades, China largely followed the Silicon Valley model, allowing entrepreneurs to pursue their ambitions with little government oversight. That led to enormous successes, including e-commerce pioneer Alibaba, social media giant Tencent and ByteDance Ltd., creator of the hit TikTok short-video app.

Kai-Fu Lee, chairman and chief executive officer of Sinovation Ventures, center, speaks during a panel discussion at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Beijing in 2019. | BLOOMBERG

But in a series of regulatory moves over the past year, Beijing made clear the technology industry must realign to conform with government priorities. Alibaba and Tencent were quickly forced to eliminate anti-competitive practices, while games companies had to limit minors to three hours of online play per week. More broadly, the government has signaled softer internet services are out of favor.

Instead, Beijing aims to shift resources to strategically important technologies like chips and enterprise software. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has named 4,762 little giants since 2019, many in semiconductors, machinery and pharmaceutical industries. The designation typically comes with lucrative incentives from the central government or provincial authorities, including tax cuts, generous loans and favorable talent acquisition policies.

What the country is trying to promote is more hardcore technology, said Yipin Ng, founding partner of Yunqi Partners, a venture fund that is investing in little giants. In that sense, this is more in line with what they are trying to promote things that makes China more competitive.

Governments from the U.S. to Africa have established programs to support smaller enterprises, but Chinas efforts dwarf those in terms of scale, resources and ambition. Xi, the countrys most powerful leader since Mao, has instituted a half dozen programs that will collectively disburse trillions of dollars in pursuit of economic might, social stability and technological independence.

The U.S. trade war has stiffened the Chinese Communist Partys resolve to build a self-sufficient industry. The countrys vulnerability was exposed when former U.S. President Donald Trumps administration blacklisted national champions like Huawei Technologies Co. and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. That prevented them from buying U.S. components such as chipsets and industrial software, crippling operations.

The little giants concept dates back to at least 2005, when the local government in Hunan province instituted policies to support small enterprises. The central governments powerful MIIT endorsed the Hunan campaign, which included land grants and financial support, as a model for developing the private sector. Local governments in places like Tianjin began their own initiatives.

It was in 2018, with the trade war, that the central government began to seriously push the program. MIIT announced a plan to create about 600 little giants that would develop core technologies. The procedure for winning the designation was designed to foster competition and identify the most promising companies.

Smartphones display the TikTok logo in front of the ByteDance logo in this illustration from 2019. | REUTERS

Candidates apply with a six-page form detailing financial status, number of patents and research accomplishments. In the first round of selection, each province could nominate no more than a dozen companies. The countrys top three tech hubs Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai had a combined quota of only 17 candidates.

Guan Yaxin, chief operating officer of Beijing-based ForwardX Robotics, said the process was relatively smooth for her company because it has proven innovations, with 121 patents globally, including 25 in the U.S.

This government endorsement is very helpful when I expand the business because the clients will understand we are not just a random startup, she said.

MIIT has since expanded the program to thousands of companies, with about 1,000 priority little giants at the top of the hierarchy. Members of this rarefied club, which includes Wus Uisee, receive direct funding from the central government. In January, the Finance Ministry set aside at least 10 billion yuan to fund small and mid-sized enterprises until 2025, with the lions share directly financing the priority startups research. The goal is to create 10,000 little giants by 2025.

Its quite clear that this is a selection of companies very much subordinate to Chinas specific industrial policy and needs, said Barry Naughton, a professor and China economist at the University of California, San Diego. They were partially picked because they are good firms, but an equally important criteria is they fit the urgent policy needs of the government right now.

There are substantial risks. The success of Chinas technology industry over the past 10 years came from giving entrepreneurs like Alibabas Jack Ma and ByteDances Zhang Yiming free rein to build their businesses. Flipping the model to focus on the governments priorities risks leading to waste and failure, Naughton said.

These are small companies that are being nurtured because they can potentially be alternative suppliers. How do you nurture them? You throw money at them, he said.

The little giants have become popular targets for venture capitalists, many of whom lost money on portfolio companies during Beijings crackdown. One VC said that some startups in the program have been able to raise capital in the last six months while boosting their valuations by 50% to 75%. Another VC reportedly invests only in companies identified as little giants by the government.

Signs of Alibaba Group and Ant Group are seen during the World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China, in Nov., 2020. | REUTERS

Zhang Hui, co-founder of Guizhou Changtong Electric Ltd., applied for the program in Guizhou province in 2020 and received the award last year, based on his companys power equipment technology. The startup soon landed more than 100 million yuan from state-backed funds, and other investors have been knocking on his door to offer additional capital.

Of course, venture investors will chase little giants for investment, he said. It would be a surprise if they didnt.

Venture investments in China hit a record last year despite the crackdown. The value of deals rose about 50% in 2021 to $130.6 billion, according to the research firm Preqin.

EcoFlow Inc., a portable battery startup in Shenzhen, announced a 100 million yuan fundraising led by Sequoia as the company won the little giant label from MIIT. The four-year-old firm now plans an initial public offering in its hometown city within three years.

The government is also making it easier for these startups to go public, another incentive for entrepreneurs and venture investors. China set up a dedicated stock exchange in Beijing last year to help small enterprises raise capital.

Guan of ForwardX Robotics pointed out that founders retain control over their companies even if they participate in such government programs. Her company, which makes mobile robots used in manufacturing and logistics, has about 300 employees and plans to expand into Japan and the U.S. She sees the governments support as a big benefit as little giants try to grow.

Many of them are very small now compared with multinationals, she said. But the government sees the potential for them to become a real giants one day.

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China's 'little giants' are its latest weapon in tech war with U.S. - The Japan Times

ELMSFORD, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SEEQC, the Digital Quantum Computing company, today announced the addition of a scientific advisory board to its leadership. This addition comes at a time when the company is unveiling a new brand identity and expanding its team internationally, including the appointment of Shu-Jen Han as its vice president of engineering.

Scientific Advisory Board

SEEQCs new scientific advisory board consists of leading academics from across the world, including Javad Shabani, assistant professor of physics at NYU, professors from the University of Napoli Federico II, Francesco Tafuri and Giovanni Piero Pepe, and Maxim Vavilov, professor at the University of Wisconsin.

The company instituted this board of quantum scientists to guide SEEQCs team as they continue their mission to solve quantum computings' most challenging problems. The board will help ensure that SEEQC bases its products, research and development on sound scientific data.

By integrating this team of scientists into SEEQCs product roadmap, the company can internally peer-review its research and development and receive feedback and scientific advice more quickly than other commercial entities. This ensures that the company is receiving proper oversight and quality consultation as it advances its technological discoveries expanding quantums reach from academia to real-world application.

The fact that half of my fellow board members work in foreign universities, and many of us have international backgrounds, should not be overlooked. SEEQC is an international company, and it is incorporating that element of itself at every level, said advisory board member, Francesco Tafuri. By bringing together this group of international scientists, SEEQC is getting access to even more experience than by engaging exclusively with American universities. These individuals bring a rich and diverse history of scientific research and experience to the company with them.

Appointing New Vice President of Engineering

In addition to expanding its leadership with the advisory board, SEEQC has also appointed industry veteran Dr. Shu-Jen Han as its vice president of engineering. Han brings more than a decade of experience in the nanotechnology and semiconductor industry to SEEQC, as well as world-class expertise in logic and memory chip-making a critical component of scaling the companys system-on-a-chip quantum design.

Han started his career at IBM working in the semiconductor sector after receiving his Ph.D. from Stanford University, later he managed the nanoscale device and technology group at IBMs T. J. Watson Research Center working on world-leading post-silicon transistor research. Han has valuable experience in advancing complex semiconductor chip technology from basic research to product qualification both as a director and later as senior director at HFC Semiconductors Advanced Memory Technology Division. He has authored over 90 technical publications, two book chapters and over 150 issued US patents.

Were thrilled to formally welcome Shu-Jen to SEEQC, and I am excited by the leadership and expertise hell bring to our global team of quantum engineers and researchers, said John Levy, CEO of SEEQC. Shu-Jen is one of the foremost minds in the semiconductor research and development world were grateful he chose to join SEEQC and our mission to bring scalable quantum computing to the enterprise world.

In his new role, Han will help build a scalable research and development organization, lead SEEQCs multi-disciplinary engineering groups and establish a clear roadmap for its commercialization. He also oversees the day-to-day operations of the companys newly renovated chip foundry, a fully operational chip manufacturing facility focusing on superconducting quantum and classic electronics.

Renewed Brand Commitment

As the company continues to evolve its technology and business model, it is also evolving its unique brand. Under the guidance of its creative director, Fredrik Carlstrm, SEEQC is rededicating itself to its original goal and mission statement under renewed branding and communication initiatives.

SEEQC was built upon the premise of approaching quantum differently than its predecessors and counterparts, and its new brand reflects that. The brand takes into account SEEQCs unique team, the integrated process in which design, manufacturing and testing are all done in-house, resulting in a unique approach to building a scalable quantum computer.

The new brand reflects SEEQC at its core not only as a company name but as an acronym: Scalable, Energy-Efficient Quantum Computing. Other aspects of the companys brand portfolio have been updated to evince different aspects of the companys technology. SEEQCs visuals evoke a feeling of efficiency, purpose and a close relationship with nature, just as its end-product uses elements of nature to solve classically intractable problems and address the worlds greatest challenges.

The new design and communication are a mirror image of SEEQCs approach to building scalable, re-configurable quantum computers around a family of chips designed to support a host of high-value problems for clients today, said Carlstrm. We want the brand we put forward to show what were really about and to show our ethos in everything we do from the design of our hardware and software to our offices, facilities, website and brand identity.

Partnership with QuantWare

To further advance its technology, SEEQC has partnered with Dutch quantum startup QuantWare. With additional support from the University of Napoli Federico II, the companies will co-develop an advanced Quantum Processor Unit (QPU) with integrated cryogenic digital control logic. This partnership combines SEEQCs proprietary platform with QuantWares scalable QPU design, resulting in the worlds first commercially available platform, capable of overcoming key scalability engineering challenges.

About SEEQC:

SEEQC is developing the first fully digital quantum computing platform for global businesses. SEEQC combines classical and quantum technologies to address the efficiency, stability and cost issues endemic to quantum computing systems. The company applies classical and quantum technology through digital readout and control technology and a unique chip-scale architecture. SEEQCs quantum system provides the energy- and cost-efficiency, speed and digital control required to make quantum computing useful and bring the first commercially-scalable, problem-specific quantum computing applications to market.

The company is one of the first companies to have built a superconductor multi-layer commercial chip foundry and through this experience has the infrastructure in place for design, testing and manufacturing of quantum-ready superconductors. SEEQC is a spin-out of HYPRES, the worlds leading developer of superconductor electronics. SEEQCs team of executives and scientists have deep expertise and experience in commercial superconductive computing solutions and quantum computing. SEEQC is based in Elmsford, NY with facilities in London, UK and Naples, Italy.

More here:
SEEQC Announces Addition of Scientific Advisory Board, Vice President of Engineering and Unveils New Brand Identity - Business Wire

Oklahoma lawmakers filed a number of bills for the upcoming session that herald the U.S. Constitution while or even as grounds for defying federal law and resisting the federal government. (Photo by Janice Francis-Smith)

OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahoma lawmakers filed a number of bills for the upcoming session that herald the U.S. Constitution while or even as grounds for defying federal law and resisting the federal government.

Lawmakers met Thursdays deadline to file bills for the upcoming legislative session, which begins Feb. 7, with more than 2,200 new measures. While many focus on business and issues unique to Oklahoma, several bills grapple with issues of faith, culture and values currently debated on the national stage.

A total of 1,482 House Bills, 18 House Joint Resolutions and two House Concurrent Resolutions were filed in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, while 774 Senate Bills and 23 Senate Joint Resolutions were filed.

Republicans hold a clear majority in both chambers of the Oklahoma Legislature. Several Republican-authored bills exhibited opposition to the federal government, where Democrats occupy the White House and hold a slim majority in Congress.

Senate Bill 495 by Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, clarified in its language that the author was not suggesting secession from the United States, even as the bill declared that the State of Oklahoma will not accede to the federal government in matters regarding abortion.

The measure provides that the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land, and yet asserts that Oklahoma lawmakers fulfill their oaths to the Constitution by refusing to assent to the legal fiction that such Constitution prohibits this state from exercising its reserved police powers to outlaw homicide and from exercising its constitutional and God-given duties to provide equal protection to all persons within its jurisdiction

Nothing in this act shall be construed as an intent by this state to withdraw from the United States of America, reads the text of SB 495. To the contrary, this act is in accordance with and in furtherance of the Constitution of the United States and the principles which made America great. This state urges the federal government to honor the same by supporting this act.

Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow who is currently campaigning for a seat in Congress filed several bills which state outright defiance to federal authority and accepted provisions of the U.S. Constitution. Dahms SB 1226 would prohibit illegal alien anchor babies from receiving citizenship in Oklahoma, as it was described in a statement announcing the measure.

Similarly, Dahm and others filed several bills intended to protect Oklahomans right to own firearms in defiance of any federal law that would outlaw said firearms.

Mirroring last years arguments regarding Critical Race Theory, Oklahoma lawmakers are also joining in with legislation filed nationwide targeting issues of culture and values.

SB 1442 by Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, prohibits schools from teaching social emotional learning, or SEL curriculum. Designed to assist children dealing with trauma and build character, SEL curriculum is being targeted by dozens of Republican lawmakers nationwide following publication of a Parents Bill of Rights authored by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, claiming the program treats educators as therapists performing duties that should be left to parents.

Read more from the original source:
Culture wars a big focus of upcoming legislative session - Journal Record

Subhas Chandra Boses 125th birth anniversary yesterday saw different parties leaders like Basavraj Bommai, Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray and Yogi Adityanath pay tribute to him across the country. In the evening it was all topped by the Prime Minister unveiling Boses hologram statue at India Gate. The new statue as much as the preceding relocation of the Amar Jawan Jyoti from this space to the National War Memorial has set off a fresh round of heated debate over Indias history whether it is being erased or enriched, diluted or diversified.

Likewise, the removal of one of Gandhis favourite hymns Abide With Me from this years Beating Retreat ceremony is being criticised as yet another insult to minorities and the Mahatma, and simultaneously defended as welcome phasing-in of tunes like Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon that have wider connect with citizens. There is also much subnational texture to such conflicts. For example, the Centres rejection of Tamil Nadus Republic Day tableau has gotten strong rebuttal from the state, with DMK leaders schooling the north about the contributions of the souths freedom fighters who starred in the tableau.

But contrary to whatever the most vituperative tweets on opposite sides suggest, such contestation over historical meanings is not new, or necessarily bad. They are part of the rough and tumble of a diverse democracy, and contestations over meanings as well as readings of history are signs of healthy life in the public space. Of course, such debates often follow the power cycle every political party in government that has the capacity and inclination promotes its own heroes and other assorted historical and cultural preferences. But the quest for power by convincing voters is one of the defining features of democracy. Therefore, this is natural, too. Yes, there are some red lines that define a democracy that must be respected in such contests. Otherwise, these so-called culture wars are simply a manifestation of politics.

This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.

END OF ARTICLE

Originally posted here:
Good culture wars: Intense debate around history and iconography reflects a diverse democracy - The Times of India Blog

This article is a response to Will Catholic universities survive the upheaval in higher education? The next 10 years will tell, a feature by Charles C. Camosy. Read more views on this issue linked at the bottom of this article.

If the Covid-19 pandemic should teach us anything, it is that the unexpected will come at us. And when it does, we have a choice: to take care only of ourselves, what Pope Francis calls the hyperinflation of the individual, or to take stock, look at the suffering world and work for change that has the common good at heart.

Charles Camosys analysis of the future of higher education, which unfortunately stokes divisions and uses vague references to the culture to be resisted, does not get us closer to envisioning the kind of work we need to do. Most fundamentally, I do not find a compelling reason in his essay for the why of higher education, which is where this conversation needs to begin. Why should people of faith care if we have colleges and universities at all?

The why of higher education today must go beyond the day-to-day of campus life or faculty politics. If, as is made evident by the kind of critical theories that are criticized by Dr. Camosy, higher education in the United States has for most of its history ensured the preservation and continuation of privilege based on race and class (remember thecollege admissions scandal?), then our current moment calls for new models that will reverse this. The model for todays university must involve working for true societal transformation, equipping more of us to be thoughtfully critical and engaged in a shared civic life of genuinely communal concerns. It must involve inviting more of us into conversations that build a bridge across borders, continents, classes and races.

Higher education is at its best when it allows us to explore the many intersections where we can meet and discover us-ness, while celebrating the beauty of difference. This has been a focus of my own work, which resulted in the bookTeaching Global Theologies: Power and Praxis. This expansive view of who we mean by us makes clear that the Catholic intellectual tradition we teach has to be reimagined to make room for the writings of the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador, the forceful critiques of feminist theologies, the unceasing voices of economic and post-colonial analysis from the global South, and the ideas of our young people, who are forging courageous alliances in defense of planetary flourishing.

Our campuses have to make present the disenfranchised many, not by pigeonholing Hispanics as being well suited for small schools close to their homes, as Dr. Camosy suggests, but by having the presence of young people from very dissimilar communities on all of our campuses, shaking us up, changing our spaces, creating a new reality steeped in solidarity. Higher education should be abundant, not a rare privilege for the few. If that means seeking partnerships with corporations or government wherever these are possible, so we can multiply resources, then let us do it.

Let us seek a true culture of encounter where we can affect each others worlds. If Google wants to put funding into education, then perhaps we can work together so they will come to embrace the centrality of ethics. As we engage beyond our spaces, we can work to bring about the challenging work that Pope Francis describes inLet Us Dream, his book with Austen Ivereigh, as redesigning the economy so that it can offer every person access to a dignified existence while protecting and regenerating the natural world.

There are many ways that we are Catholic. We may be described pejoratively as woke, but my community of accountability, my students, want to be seenand I want them to know I see them. Jesus extraordinarily countercultural practice was to invite outsiders to share the table and in that unlikely fellowship begin creating the kin-dom of God. This radical inclusion is what gets us past pointless culture wars and into the Good News.

Read more:
The solution to the culture wars on campus? Radical inclusion. - America Magazine