Hefei hosts a conference to explore the future development of the internet of things industry in Hefei National High-Tech Industry Development Zone on May 10. [Photo/stdaily.com]

A conference aimed at boosting the development of the internet of things (IoT) industry, an emerging industry in China, was held in Hefei National High-Tech Industry Development Zone on May 10.

The conference released the latest data related to the industry and explored the applied areas of IoT technology and talent cultivation.

Xie Yunzhou, secretary general of China NB-IoT Industry Alliance, recapped the major events of 2018 and looked forward to future industrial development.

The alliance has gathered more than 2,000 IoT enterprises and will take full advantage of its resources to make Hefei home to a 100 billion yuan ($14.55 million) IoT industry.

As an extension of the internet, IoT refers to a network of devices, vehicles, buildings and other objects that contain software or sensors that allow them to connect and exchange data,. It has played an increasingly important role in the construction of smart cities, as well as industries such as smart healthcare and wearable devices.

It is estimated that there will be 50 billion devices connected to the IoT in the world by 2025, and this huge market potential will bring new growth drivers to global technology companies.

In order to encourage companies to seize the opportunity, 20 outstanding firms, such as Chinese tech giant Huawei, Quectel, a professional developer of IoT technology and Chinese internet company 360, were praised for their contribution to the application of IoT technology at the conference.

According to the conference, Hefei will construct a public platform - the IoT industry international innovation center - and host a summit forum to facilitate industrial development.

Hefei National High-Tech Industry Development Zone has a national artificial intelligence base for industries such as IoT, big data and cloud calculation. The zone has set up several funds totaling 57.38 billion yuan to support the development of emerging industries.