A live streamer sells handmade products at an e-commerce industrial park in Zhangbaqiao town, Pingdingshan city, Henan province. (PHOTO: VCG)

By Staff Reporters

The digital community, as a new vehicle for developing digital economy, is an emerging concept and model of Internet community construction, proposed for sustainable development, said Ao Li, chief engineer at CAICT.

The Digital Community Research Report was released by China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in late December 2022.

According to Ao, the main forms of digital communities have shifted from texts, images, and voices to short videos and live broadcasts, with more real-time interaction, which have given birth to new forms and models of consumption and production.

Currently, the digital community is deeply integrating with the real economy. It connects hundreds of millions of users from all walks of life through the content matrix built by diversified information interaction technologies.

According to the report, small and medium-sized enterprises and traditional industries are seeking transformation.

Some long-established catering enterprises and brick-and-mortar stores need access to digital communities. They attract Internet users with high-quality content, then market their products and introduce business activities like group purchasing, from which they obtain more business opportunities and potential sales leads.

Digital communities also help improve the urban public service system. The report points out that in first- and second-tier city communities, there is a booming demand for online consumption, instant retail, entertainment, training and employment.

With the help of emerging technologies such as 5G, the mobile Internet and big data, digital communities can provide integrated online and offline services, making community life services more intelligent, accurate and convenient.

In remote rural areas, more and more people are opening accounts on short video platforms, and selling local specialties and other featured products nationwide through live streaming.

This has increased their income and driven the rise of rural employment, becoming a new engine promoting rural revitalization in the new era.