Project Overview
The
21st century gold rush is in China. As the country emerges both
as the world's largest consumer market and as a major business
contender, increasing numbers of companies are seeking to establish
value chain relationships, joint ventures, and regional offices
in China. Other individuals are looking to launch companies
in China, and students are looking for jobs. All want to better
understand China’s high-tech industry and how it has developed
over time. These prospectors need a multitude of resources:
books, maps, industry analyst reports, news articles, and news
group postings. Internet portals (such as Sina.com, China.com,
and Sohu.com) are currently the best source for consolidated
information but tend to present text-heavy information that
is time-intensive for people to use. Many portals try to be
all things to all users, offering news as well as games and
dating services. Others simply aggregate links to news articles,
many of which may no longer be accessible. Users often must
contend with information overload and outdated information.
Our
Solution
We are designing an English-language portal to Chinese high-tech
industry information for people looking to find jobs, research
school projects, stay abreast of industry news, analyze trends,
determine the size of various markets, look for potential business
opportunities, and see who key players are. Our goal is to leverage
various resources — possibly including company databases,
links to news stories and weblogs, descriptions of China-related
professional events and associations, graphical information
(maps showing industry concentration by region; statistical
graphs and charts), and news group postings — via a clean
interface and efficient search engine. Through a single portal,
users will be able to view trends for specific industries over
time, track industry-specific news in China and related commentary,
view the growth of their industry in the major booming regions,
research newsworthy companies, and obtain other information
on doing business in China or with Chinese companies.
Final Prototype
http://dream.sims.berkeley.edu:8080/MappingChina/index.jsp
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