China's first "Internet of Things" center opened in Shanghai Tuesday, as part of the country's effort to enhance competitiveness in what is regarded as a promising industry.

With a total investment of 800 million yuan (US$117.2 million), the 170,000-square-meter center in the suburban Jiading District was designed to study technologies and industrial standards, said Liu Haitao, a leading information technology expert.

The center was built by the district government and the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The Internet of Things is a network of real-world objects linked by the Internet and interacting through web services.

Technologies such as RFID (radio frequency identification) and sensors were the basis of the Internet of Things, Liu said.

In China, the network, integrating various technologies, has been applied to safety monitoring, public transportation and logistics.

In Wuxi, eastern Jiangsu Province, China's first batch of "smart buses" using the network have been put into operation.

Through a combination of GIS (geographic information system), GPS (global positioning system) and electronic controls, people can learn nearly everything about a bus, including its location, speed and road conditions.

"But the application of the network is not at a high level of sophistication yet," Liu said, adding the State Council was working on supportive policies to boost the emerging industry.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2010)