JD.com pushes further into smart cities, offering social credit and AI-powered tools to local governments in China

JD.com has launched a big data-powered service to give social credit scores to individuals, businesses and potential investors for local governments in China, as the e-commerce company ventures further into the smart cities space.

Unveiling a new brand, JD iCity, the Beijing-based company said on Thursday that it wants to double down on the intelligent city business by providing big data and artificial intelligence-powered tools to local governments. The services can be used to build social credit databases, AI-powered traffic infrastructure and other smart transport services.

By gathering, sorting and analysing a vast pool of data, including that generated by the 300 million active JD.com shoppers, the company’s logistic arm and fintech business, JD iCity will be able to improve the daily lives of urban dwellers and improve the efficiency of city governance, said Zheng Yu, vice-president of JD.com in a statement.

The move comes amid Beijing’s call for deeper integration between AI and the real economy. Riding the wave of building a data-driven smart economy, Chinese authorities are also looking to use hi-tech technologies in social management.

One of the latest, controversial areas in China is the building of a social credit system which will use a mix of carrots and sticks to prod people and businesses to abide by rules and to promote integrity and trustworthiness in society at large. However, such a system will depend on the collection of a vast array of data on the personal behaviour and lifestyle choices of individuals.

According to an official blueprint released in 2014, a national social credit system will be rolled out by 2020 to “allow the trustworthy to benefit wherever they go while making it difficult for the discredited to take a single step”.