China has more Internet users and more mobile phones than any other country in the world. It would seem that WebRTC and the Real Time Web would be a natural for China and the turnout for the first WebRTC event in China have surely proven that. With over 400 attendees, it is confirmation that using the web for real-time is high on the minds of China’s web developers, web app companies, entrepreneurs, and investors.
The first Real Time Web Solutions Conference has been a stunning success through the first day. Hosted in Zhongguancun, generally known as the Silicon Valley of China, the event was well positioned to kick off the real-time web in China. Through the course of the day, a mix of English and Mandarin program materials kept the audience listening intently. After I kicked the conference off with an introduction to WebRTC and why it is transformational, Tony Zhao, CEO of Agora Labs, talked about how real time services in China are define by the mobile first environment and network challenges. He was joined by a panel focused on the differences between Asia and the Western markets for real time web adoption.
Doug Sommer of Intel also talked about Intel’s major effort to enable real time web services in its architecture, including IoT, as well as media processing. The morning closed with a panel focusing on making money in the real time web services market, with the panelist agreeing there are three major models, tools and other capabilities, to support development and deployment and that are disrupting existing markets and services with innovation and price advantages and creating new applications and services using real time on the web. While the panel agreed that tools were a great market, the potential of new transformational apps and experiences marrying real-time with the power of the web merged as the favorite for new developers.
In the afternoon, the conference turned into a separate real time web business session and the WebRTC University delivered by Dan Burnett and Alan Johnston. Alan and Dan had over 100 attendees to their session. Dan commented that many of the students were asking advanced questions, indicating that many had been experimenting with WebRTC before the conference. For the sponsors, there was a continual stream of new developers and users to discuss opportunities with.
The conference seems to be showing that while the adoption of WebRTC has taken a number of years in western markets, China and the Asian markets appear ready to adopt quickly. Based on conversations and presentations, they appear ready to accelerate deployment and new applications using the learning experiences of the last two years to move quickly in enabling the massive China (and overall Asian) Internet population with real time web solutions and applications.
While the China Real Time Web Solutions is the first event that incorporates the change from a pure WebRTC focus (WebRTC Conference and Expo) to an event bringing together all aspects of real time on the web (Real Time Web Solutions Conference), it is also a precursor to next summer’s exciting event in New York City. That event, where the NYC community of web app developers and content producers will have their first Real Time Web Solutions event, will happen in August 1-4, 2016.
I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings. If you are not here in Beijing, I look forward to seeing you in New York next summer.
Edited by
Stefania Viscusi
