New ThoughtWaves Documentary Explores the Untold Story of the Brilliant Minds, Breakthroughs, and Politics of Human Connection
" ThoughtWaves is the story of how we connect everyone to a better future, in a world where access to the digital economy is synonymous with opportunity. To secure our nation's success, it is necessary to invest in robust broadband infrastructure. Fiber is the only technology that can support the capacity needed today and the future of connectivity,' said Gary Bolton, President and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association. 'This is the story of the impact we are having on the communities and people we serve, a story that is just now being told, and we are excited to see how it continues to evolve as everyone is afforded the same access to opportunity and hope.'
The documentary traces the journey from the inception of the internet and the development of fiber optics to the current efforts aimed at bridging the digital divide. It showcases the conversations, conflicts, challenges, and brilliant minds that made closing the digital divide possible. It frames the critical role in ensuring equitable access to education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and technological advancements means to everyone, everywhere. Viewers will enjoy insights from industry pioneers, policymakers, and technologists, including:
Vint Cerf, 'Father of the Internet' and VP and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google
Laura Breeden, early internet activist, Founding Director of the Federation of American Research Networks (FARnet), Founding Director of the NTIA's Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program, and Co-Founder of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA)
Jean Armour Polly, 'Mother of the Internet,' early internet evangelist, known for her contributions welcoming nontechnical users to the internet and the first library to connect her library to the internet to provide community access
Ajit Pai, former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
Andy Berke, former Mayor of Chattanooga, the first Gig City
Larry Irving, former head the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications Infrastructure Administration, key architect of internet policy including the 1996 Telecommunications Act to connect schools, first African American in the Internet Hall of Fame
Dr. Karen Rheuban, Co-founder and Director of the UVA Center for Telehealth
Teddy Bekele, Chief Technology Officer, Land-o-Lakes
Blair Levin, former Chief of Staff for FCC Chairman Reed Hunt, Author of the National Broadband Plan
The Honorable Juandieago Wade, Mayor of Charlottesville
Dr. Tamarah Holmes, Director, Office of Broadband, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development
Kathryn de Wit, Project Director, Broadband Access Initiative, The Pew Charitable Trusts
Joseph Wender, former Director of the Capital Projects Fund at the U.S. Treasury Department
Shane Seibel, Executive Director of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe Growth Fund
Kirk Lougheed, Cisco Fellow
Dr. Christopher Ali, Pioneers Chair, Professor of Telecommunications, Penn State University, Author of Farm Fresh Broadband
The documentary will have a private screening at Fiber Connect 2025 on June 2nd, providing attendees with a unique opportunity to engage with the film's themes and contributors. ThoughtWaves was developed in partnership with Cisco, Corning, Nokia, Bonfire, EPB, and GFiber. For more information about ThoughtWaves and to view trailers, visit www.thoughtwavesfilm.com.
About the Fiber Broadband Association
The Fiber Broadband Association is the largest and only trade association that represents the complete fiber ecosystem of service providers, manufacturers, industry experts, and deployment specialists dedicated to the advancement of fiber broadband deployment and the pursuit of a world where communications are limitless, advancing quality of life and digital equity anywhere and everywhere. The Fiber Broadband Association helps providers, communities, and policymakers make informed decisions about how, where, and why to build better fiber broadband networks. Since 2001, these companies, organizations, and members have worked with communities and consumers in mind to build the critical infrastructure that provides the economic and societal benefits that only fiber can deliver. The Fiber Broadband Association is part of the Fibre Council Global Alliance, which is a platform of six global FTTH Councils in North America, LATAM, Europe, MEA, APAC, and South Africa. Learn more at fiberbroadband.org.
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CNET
10 minutes ago
- CNET
AI Is Taking Over Your Search Engine. Here's a Look Under the Hood
For decades, the way we find information on the internet changed only in small ways. Doing a traditional Google search today doesn't feel all that different from when, in the 1990s, you would Ask Jeeves. Sure, a lot has changed under the hood, the results are likely far more relevant and the interface has some new features, but you're still typing in keywords and getting a list of websites that might hold the answer. That way of searching, it seems, is starting to go the way of AltaVista, may it rest in peace. In May, Google announced the rollout of its new AI Mode for search, which uses a generative AI model (based on the company's Gemini large language model) to give you conversational answers that feel a lot more like having a chat and less like combing through a set of links. Other companies, like Perplexity and OpenAI, have also deployed search tools based on gen AI. These tools, which merge the functionality of a chatbot and a traditional search engine, are quickly gaining steam. You can't even escape AI by doing just a regular Google search: AI Overviews have been popping up atop those results pages since last year, and about one in five searches are now showing this kind of summary, according to a Pew Research Center report. I'm surprised it's not even more than that. These newfangled search tools feel a lot like your typical chatbot, like ChatGPT, but they do things a little differently. Those differences share a lot of DNA with their search engine ancestors. Here's a look under the hood at how these new tools work, and how you can use them effectively. Everything Announced at Google I/O 2025 Everything Announced at Google I/O 2025 Click to unmute Video Player is loading. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Next playlist item Unmute Current Time 0:13 / Duration 15:40 Loaded : 6.33% 00:13 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 15:27 Share Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Everything Announced at Google I/O 2025 Search engines vs. AI search: What's the difference? The underlying technology of a search engine is kinda like an old library card catalog. The engine uses bots to crawl the vast expanses of the internet to find, analyze and index the endless number of web pages. Then, when you do a search to ask who played Dr. Angela Hicks on ER, because you're trying to remember what else you've seen her in, it will return pages for things like the cast of ER or the biography of the actor, CCH Pounder. From there, you can click through those pages, whether they're on Wikipedia or IMDB or somewhere else, and learn that you know CCH Pounder from her Emmy-winning guest appearance on an episode of The X-Files. "When customers have a certain question, they can type that question into Google and then Google runs their ranking algorithms to find what content is the best for a particular query," Eugene Levin, president of the marketing and SEO tool company Semrush, told me. Generally, with a traditional search, you have to click through to other websites to get the answer you're looking for. When I was trying to figure out where I recognized CCH Pounder from, I clicked on at least half a dozen different sites to track it down. That included using Google's video search -- which combs an index of videos across different hosting platforms -- to find clips of her appearance on The X-Files. Google announced AI Mode at its I/O developer conference in May. Google/Screenshot by Joe Maldonado/CNET These multiple searches don't necessarily have to happen. If I just want to know the cast of ER, I can type in "cast of ER" and click on the Wikipedia page at the top. You'll usually find Wikipedia or another relevant, trustworthy site at or near the top of a search result page. That's because a main way today's search algorithms work is by tracking which sites and pages get most links from elsewhere on the web. That model, which "changed the game for search" when Google launched it in the 1990s, was more reliable than indexing systems that relied on things like just how many times a keyword appeared on a page, said Sauvik Das, associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute. "There's lots of cookie recipes on the web, but how do you know which ones to show first?" Das said. "Well, if a bunch of other websites are linking to this website for the keywords of 'cookie recipe,' that's pretty difficult to game." AI-powered search engines work a little differently, but operate on the same basic infrastructure. In my quest to see where I recognized CCH Pounder from, I asked Google's AI Mode, literally, "Where do I recognize the actress who plays Dr. Angie Hicks on ER from?" In a conversation that felt far more like chatting with a bot than doing searches, I narrowed it down. The first result gave me a list of shows and movies I hadn't seen, so I asked for a broader list, which featured her guest appearances on other shows. Then I could ask for more details about her X-Files appearance, and that narrowed it down. While the way I interacted with Google was different, the search mechanisms were basically the same. AI Mode just used its Gemini model to develop and process dozens of different web searches to gather the information needed, Robby Stein, vice president of product for Google Search, told me. "A user could've just queried each of those queries themselves." Basically, AI Mode did the same thing I did, just a lot faster. So many searches, so little time The approach here is called "query fan-out." The AI model takes your request and breaks it down into a series of questions, then conducts searches to answer those components of the request. It then takes the information it gathers from all those searches and websites and puts it together in an answer for you. In a heartbeat. Those searches are using the same index that a traditional search would. "They work on the same foundation," Levin said. "What changes is how they pull information from this foundation." This fan-out process allows the AI search to pull in relevant information from sites that might not have appeared on the first page of traditional search results, or to pull a paragraph of good information from a page that has a lot more irrelevant information. Instead of you going down a rabbit hole to find one tiny piece of the answer you want, the AI goes down a wide range of rabbit holes in a few seconds. "They will anticipate, if you're looking for this, what is the next thing you might be interested in?" Levin said. Read more: AI Essentials: 29 Ways You Can Make Gen AI Work for You, According to Our Experts The number of searches the AI model will do depends on the tool you're using and on how complicated your question is. AI Mode that uses Google's Deep Search will spend more time and conduct more searches, Stein said. "Increasingly, if you ask a really hard question, it will use our most powerful models to reply," Stein said. The large language models that power these search engines also have their existing training data to pull from or use to guide their searches. While a lot of the information is coming from the up-to-date content it finds by searching the web, some may come from that training data, which could include reams of information ranging from websites like this one to whole libraries of books. That training data is so extensive that lawsuits over whether AI companies actually had the right to use that information are quickly multiplying. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) AI search isn't just a chatbot Not relying on training data is one thing that sets an AI-powered search engine apart from a traditional chatbot, even though the underlying language model might be largely the same. While ChatGPT Search will scour the internet for relevant sites and answers, regular ChatGPT might rely on its own training data to answer your question. "The right answer might be in there," Das said. "It might also hallucinate a likely answer that isn't anywhere in the pre-training data." The AI search uses a concept called retrieval-augmented generation to incorporate what it finds on the internet into its answer. It collects information from a source you point it to (in this case, the search engine index) and tells it to look there instead of making something up if it can't find it in its training data. "You're telling the AI the answer is here, I just want you to find where," Das said. "You get the top 10 Google results, and you're telling the AI the answer is probably in here." Perplexity offers AI-powered search through its app and through a newly announced browser. Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images Can you really trust AI search results? These AI-powered search tools might be more reliable than just using a chatbot itself, because they're pulling from current, relevant information and giving you links, but you still have to think critically about it. Here are some tips from the experts: Bring your human skepticism Consider how bad people are at telling when you're sarcastic on the internet. Then think about how bad a large language model might be at it. That's how Google's AI Overviews came up with the idea to put glue on pizza -- by pulling information from a humorous Reddit post and repeating it as if it were real culinary advice. "The AI doesn't know what is authentic and what is humorous," Das said. "It's going to treat all that information the same." Remember to use your own judgement and look for the sources of the information. They might not be as accurate as the LLM thinks, and you don't want to make important life decisions based on somebody's joke on an internet forum that a robot thought was real. AI can still make stuff up Even though they're supposed to be pulling from search results, these tools can still make things up in the absence of good information. That's how AI Overviews started creating fake definitions for nonsensical sayings. The retrieval-augmented generation might reduce the risk of outright hallucinations but doesn't eliminate it, according to Das. Remember that an LLM doesn't have a sense of what the right answer to a question is. "It's just predicting what is the next English word that would come after this previous stream of other English words or other language words," Das said. "It doesn't really have a concept of truthiness in that sense." Check your sources Traditional search engines are very hands-off. They will give you a list of websites that appear relevant to your search and let you decide whether you want to trust them. Because an AI search is consolidating and rewriting that information itself, it may not be obvious when it's using an untrustworthy source. "Those systems are not going to be entirely error-free, but I think the challenge is that over time you will lose an ability to catch them," Levin said. "They will be very convincing and you will not know how to really go and verify, or you will think you don't need to go and verify." But you can check every source. But that's exactly the kind of work you were probably hoping to avoid using this new system that's designed to save you time and effort. "The problem is if you're going to do this analysis for every query you perform in ChatGPT, what is the purpose of ChatGPT?" Levin said.
CNET
5 hours ago
- CNET
My Simple Keys to Negotiating a Better Deal for Your Internet Service
Internet service isn't cheap, with the average monthly internet bill coming to around $78. And that often doesn't include equipment rental fees. On top of that, a recent CNET survey revealed that 63% of US adults are paying more for internet than they did last year. Yet, much of what we do -- including remote work, school, telehealth and staying connected with family -- relies on having a solid internet connection, so it's a necessary expense many of us just accept. But what happens when your bill starts creeping up and you don't qualify for low-income internet programs like Lifeline? One way to fight back is by negotiating with your provider, an old-school tactic that can still save you money. My wife is the champion negotiator and dealmaker of our household. Before we met, she'd already crushed significant life moments, including buying a house, hammering out a great deal on a new car and getting the best possible salary offer for a new job. So when it came time to gather guidance for negotiating with your internet service provider, you'd better believe I started with her. "Kindness is key," she said. "Always be friendly and courteous." Why? Because the person on the other end of the phone (or online chat, as the case may be) is much more likely to work with you if met with decency and patience. Your customer service rep isn't doing an easy job and they want to help, so why not start off on the right foot? I could fill an entire column with my wife's negotiating tips and tricks, but I've also sought professional advice from internet insiders. As you might imagine, some gave me standard company lines about how every customer gets the same high-value offers or how each agent works tirelessly to ensure everyone gets the best possible price daily. You know the drill. Locating local internet providers We all know that's not 100% true, or providers wouldn't constantly be changing their promotions and deals. So, after sifting through the best ideas from the pros, here are five steps you should take when negotiating with your internet service provider. 1. Do your research "I think the first thing is to try to be knowledgeable before you make the call," according to EarthLink CEO Glenn Goad. From his perspective, most people aren't familiar enough with their options when contacting an ISP. That puts them at a disadvantage and can lead to getting roped into add-ons or more speed than they actually need. Here's how you can avoid pitfalls like that. Look in the mirror Spend part of your preparation building a case for yourself as a desirable customer. How long have you been with your ISP? If you're two months into a 24-month contract, you're less likely to get any traction on carving out a better deal: Providers often collect an early termination fee if you bail on your existing contract. On the other hand, if you've been with the same ISP for several years, there's a much better chance of finding a flexible attitude. In that case, the provider should be much more motivated to keep you as a subscriber because there's no financial benefit claimed from your loss. Either way, having this basic information handy will help you better make your claim. You can also do yourself a favor and set the stage for a more profitable exchange by paying your bills on time. Once you've built up months or years of steady, on-time payments, the sales agent will likely see you as a valuable customer and one worth keeping happy. Decide what you actually need Don't be an impulsive internet shopper. Before negotiating with your ISP, determine your goals for the call. Keep in mind it's not always just about cutting a deal for a lower monthly bill. Yes, knocking a few bucks off each month's bill is great, but it might not ultimately be the best approach to your household internet needs. For instance, many of us discovered that our previous internet plan was insufficient for increased work-from-home or remote schooling duties during the pandemic. To keep more people (and devices) online simultaneously, a faster internet option is the way to go. An AT&T spokesperson said she advises customers to turn to a fiber network if possible to deal with bandwidth-heavy applications. "However, when fiber isn't available, we recommend choosing the fastest option available based on the customer's need," she said. "With the average number of connected devices continuing to grow, most households would benefit from fast and more reliable speeds." Keep in mind that, according to findings from OpenVault, the average household uses more than 500Mbps a month. If you signed up for a plan with less speed than that, but you have a fair number of devices and moderate internet users in the house, you should consider an upgrade. Insights from this CNET internet speed guide can help you determine how much internet speed you really need, so start there. Perhaps when you signed on with your provider, you chose a starter plan with 100Mbps download speed, but now your family needs much more than that. Focus on securing a faster speed -- maybe more like 300Mbps -- and aim to get more for your money and decrease your cost per Mbps. A plan with faster speeds may boost your network capabilities, and if you consider cost per Mbps, it may also be a better value. Trey Paul/CNET On the flip side, perhaps you signed up for a multi-gigabit speed plan because your ISP touted it as the fastest residential plan available. But do you and the rest of your household really use that much? You might find significant savings by downgrading to a plan that lets you do all the same activities without any discernible difference in performance. For instance, many homes won't notice much difference between a gigabit plan and 500Mbps. 2. Don't always splurge for the speediest plan While download speed is undoubtedly essential in figuring out what type of plan best fits you, it's not the only factor. An Xfinity spokesperson said it's best to look into the total value of an internet service rather than simply stopping at speed. Can you get mobile service included? How about access to Wi-Fi hotspots? Value can come in multiple ways, not just in your download speed. The AT&T spokesperson agreed. "What discounts or special offers are available to you? There may be discount offers for qualifying customers that you should inquire about. Some providers may also offer subscriptions for streaming and other services that could make a package more enticing," she said. You can help yourself out by putting in just a little work before the call. For instance, look beyond download speed and consider your data usage. Are you paying extra for unlimited data and not using it? Or, perhaps more commonly, do you tend to exceed your data limit and incur additional charges? Consider if there's an unlimited add-on option that'll save you money in the long run. Also, gather your facts about what you're currently paying. Do you already have a promo rate? Are there any deals you're taking advantage of right now? You can check out our round-up of some of the best deals, TV bundles and mobile bundles for internet customers. Don't get caught flat-footed, or you'll risk losing a reasonable price in the hunt for a better bargain. If you're not taking advantage of any deals or offers, look up the promotional discounts offered to new customers and ask your ISP to match that. It's also worthwhile to check for online-only deals so you can ask for the equivalent for your existing account. fizkes/Getty Images 3. Know your options before you call Sorry to mix metaphors, but if you plan on playing hardball, don't bluff if you have no hand. Before you threaten to cancel your subscription, ensure your address is serviceable for other providers by using tools like the FCC broadband coverage map to see what internet options are available at your address. Otherwise, your ISP will know that you don't have other options. On the other hand, you can politely but squarely use this to your advantage if you do have options. At face value, you might have a cheaper plan than what you found on a competitor's site. But as you consider that alternative option, you might discover it's a fiber connection with much faster upload and download speeds. You could get a faster, better online experience at a lower cost per Mbps for just slightly more per month. But such a pivot might not be available to all. In addition to serviceability, you also have to answer another question. Is switching to another ISP even an option? For instance, if you live in an apartment complex, does your leasing company have an exclusivity agreement with your provider? My wife and I learned this the hard way. When we moved to the Charlotte area, we were excited about ditching our old ISP, but our hopes were dashed when we learned that our housing development had a contract with the same provider, so we didn't have the same range of choices as other city residents. Consider the different internet connection types available at your address. Is satellite internet an option? It's often cast as the only viable alternative for rural or suburban customers. But be aware of satellite dish installation regulations in your area, set by your homeowners association or in your lease rules. Lastly, is 5G home internet an option at your address? Verizon and T-Mobile are aggressively expanding the coverage areas for their respective services and looking to lure new customers. These services offer better download speeds than satellite and much more affordable rates. (Unlike satellite services, there are no equipment rental or purchase fees to add to your monthly costs.) Slow internet? We've got tips to speed it up Slow internet? We've got tips to speed it up Click to unmute Video Player is loading. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Next playlist item Unmute Current Time 0:31 / Duration 1:32 Loaded : 100.00% 0:31 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 1:01 Share Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Slow internet? We've got tips to speed it up 4. Ask for what you want before you give up You've researched, collected your facts and jotted down your goals for the call. Preparation is the key to success, but now it's time to seal the deal. To get the best deal for your budget, you need to call and ask for what you want. "Any customer has the right to seek changes to their plan if they choose to do so," the AT&T spokesperson said. "There's not really a specific time of year for deals, but customers should check ISPs' websites regularly for any new updates or offers they can take advantage of." Goad offered that moving season from May to October is a prime time to find offers, incentives and promotions. That said, it's also a time when your customer experience might not be as good as if you called during a different time. "If you think about it, if you're going to shop on Black Friday, it's a different experience than if you shop on March 12," Goad said. "So maybe you do your research in the first and second quarter of the year and do your buying in the third quarter when you're fully prepared." If you decide to make your move during the busy season, strongly consider not calling during the busiest time of the day: the lunch hour. Whenever you choose to leap, it's worth repeating: always be courteous. That is foundational to having a good call. Try to be friendly, speak of your length of time with the provider, and highlight your excellent payment history. 5. If at first you don't succeed, try again Here's another tip from my wife: If she gets an agent who doesn't seem willing to work with her or share the same courteous approach, she'll politely end the conversation and try again. If you forget the first four steps, don't get what you need and the conversation goes south, you can try again with a new customer service rep. One colleague I spoke with echoed this advice and shared a story about her customer experience. She was so frustrated with her bill increases that she decided to get on the phone and threatened to cancel. Her hope was the provider would beg her to stay and offer a new promotion. Instead, the provider canceled her service. She sheepishly called back later and spoke with a different representative. Figuring honesty was the best policy, she shared her story and ended up with a new deal and the advice to call and just ask next time. Be prepared that it might not go your way the first time, but don't give up. You might need to call a few times to find an agent willing to work with you or find the right promotions to suit your goals. If it means a lower bill or a better plan, it's well worth the effort.
Business Wire
13 hours ago
- Business Wire
100 Days to 8th CIIE: Preps Harden as Global Exhibitors Eye Business Potential in China
SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Facing the complex international landscape and mounting challenges, China International Import Expo (CIIE) consistently acts as a platform for global business exchange. With only 100 days to go, the 8th CIIE is set to take place in Shanghai from November 5 to 10. As of now, over 50 countries and international organizations have confirmed their participation in the Country Pavilion. Sweden and the United Arab Emirates will serve as guest countries of honor at the 8th CIIE, while Kyrgyzstan will make its debut. To help global enterprises across sectors better integrate into the Chinese market, the Corporate Pavilion features six major exhibition areas—encompassing Medical Equipment and Healthcare Products, Automobile and Smart Mobility, Intelligent Industry & Information Technology, Consumer Goods, Food and Agriculture Products, and Trade in Services—and will continue hosting its Innovation Incubation Special Section. Driven by strong interest and participation from overseas companies, total booked exhibition space has surpassed 330,000 square meters, with 170 companies and 26 institutions becoming eight-time full-attendance exhibitors. Notably, this year's Corporate Pavilion introduces four fresh innovations, demonstrating its vibrant energy and vast collaboration opportunities for participants. A special section for the least-developed countries products will launch alongside an upgraded Africa products section, helping 53 diplomatic African partners leverage zero-tariff treatment to enter the Chinese market. A new section for overseas provinces and cities stands as another highlight. Focused on global premieres, a dedicated trail for exploring debuts and a section amplifying exhibitors' presence are introduced. A cross-border e-commerce platform will be established for specialized promotion, matching, and livestreaming. The 8th Hongqiao International Economic Forum (HQF) will convene under the theme 'Opening-up for New Opportunities, Cooperation for a Shared Future.' Alongside the release of the World Openness Report 2025 and the latest World Openness Index, the HQF will host over 20 parallel sessions on revitalizing multilateral cooperation, empowering digital intelligence, green and sustainable development, and a more open China. Side events will retain previous categories, while people-to-people exchange activities will add a new 'Charming Friends of City' zone, inviting international friendly provinces and cities to set up their booths. Stay tuned for the 8th CIIE – secure your spot now! Sign up as an exhibitor: Sign up as a professional visitor:
