"Rail talents" have emerged, and high-speed rail is connecting the Yangtze River Delta into a city for development | talents | Yangtze River Delta

On the day of the reporter's interview, the electronic screen of the Material Research Building at the University of Science and Technology of China, where Professor Chen Xiaojian is located, constantly played previews of experts and scholars from Fudan University, Zhejiang University, and West Lake University coming to exchange ideas or hold lectures. "The communication between universities in the Yangtze River Delta has become more frequent." In Chen Xiaojian's view, high-level research-oriented universities in the Yangtze River Delta are the "locomotive" of scientific and technological innovation in the Yangtze River Delta, and also the "backbone" of national scientific and technological innovation, just like the fuel of a nuclear reactor, which not only has explosive power but also sustained power. On June 1, 2018, Chen Xiaojian participated in the main leadership symposium of the Yangtze River Delta region held in Shanghai that year. At the symposium, the first Yangtze River Delta Integrated Development Expert Advisory Committee was established by three provinces and one city. He became one of the first ten experts hired for decision-making consultation on the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region. In November 2018, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta was elevated to a national strategy. In 2019, at the main leadership symposium in the Yangtze River Delta region held in Wuhu, Anhui, the Yangtze River Delta Science and Technology Strategic Frontier Research Center of the University of Science and Technology of China was unveiled and established. Chen Xiaojian has also served as the director of the Center for Strategic Frontiers of Science and Technology in the Yangtze River Delta at the University of Science and Technology of China. The diversification of identities has brought a new perspective for Chen Xiaojian to serve the integration of the Yangtze River Delta.

A recent photo of Chen Xiaojian.

The greatest productivity is talent

When discussing the talent advantages of the Yangtze River Delta region, Chen Xiaojian believes that it is the place with the highest talent density, the strongest knowledge concentration, and the strongest basic research in China. The Yangtze River Delta region has 8 first-class university construction universities such as Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, University of Science and Technology of China, Zhejiang University, and Nanjing University, as well as 26 first-class discipline construction universities. In the fifth round of discipline evaluation, there were a total of 719 A-class disciplines in various provinces, regions and cities across the country, and 231 A-class disciplines in universities in the Yangtze River Delta region, accounting for 32.1%. When it comes to talent, Chen Xiaojian has a deep understanding: the development of world civilization and society has made us increasingly believe that the greatest productivity is talent! Because the emergence of new ideas, the use of new tools, and the practice of new activities are completely inseparable from "people". However, in the development of technological innovation, mobilizing the productivity of talents is also the most difficult challenge. The Yangtze River Delta needs to stimulate the enthusiasm and mobility of talents. For example, Shanghai has pioneered a new model of basic research special zones. As the main body of the special zone, the innovation unit has full autonomy, can freely choose topics, organize scientific research, and use funds independently. It also accepts failures and allows trial and error in assessment goals, which further stimulates the innovation enthusiasm of high-level talents. Chen Xiaojian also used the quantum genius Paul Dirac as an example to illustrate the lighthouse effect of top talents - Dirac became one of the founders of quantum mechanics at the age of only 23, once chaired the Lucas Mathematics Professor's seat at Cambridge University, and later entered Florida State University to spend his final 14 years in human life. The Dirac equation named after him became a symbolic symbol, encouraging groups of young talents to explore the world of physics and mathematics. As Joe Lanuti, Director of the Physics Department at Florida State University, commented, "Having Dirac in a university's physics department is like hiring Shakespeare in the Department of British Literature." "Being a pioneer in technology and industrial innovation is one of the three major missions for the higher quality integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta." Looking back on these five years, Chen Xiaojian sighed that in terms of science and technology innovation, the Yangtze River Delta has already possessed the geographical and element foundation of being a pioneer in technology and industrial innovation, and is brewing a trend of accelerating innovation. ". In recent years, the comprehensive national science centers in Zhangjiang, Shanghai and Hefei have accelerated the promotion of "two hearts co creation". Data shows that at present, the Yangtze River Delta has gathered 21 major scientific and technological infrastructure, 101 State Key Laboratory, 2 national technology innovation centers, and 50 National Engineering Research Center, accounting for 1/3, 1/5, 1/6, and 1/7 of the country respectively.

"Rail talents" are gathering

A more significant feature is that the value realization of technology and talent often involves cross city and cross regional approaches. High quality technological innovation in the Yangtze River Delta requires first and foremost efforts in the flow of innovative talents. As early as the high-end forum on "Theory, Methods, and Practice of Regional Integration Development in the Yangtze River Delta" held in 2019, Chen Xiaojian proposed that the key to integration in the Yangtze River Delta lies in the interconnection of talents, and to promote integration in the Yangtze River Delta through "rail talents". The essence of "rail talents" is the reciprocating movement of talents, which is a product of the high-speed rail era. The convenient and efficient transportation system enables scholars, experts, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and other talents to break free from the constraints of space, break through the single city work mode, and achieve multi-point practice and multiple identity free transformation. Rail talents travel back and forth between cities, as if they are just walking from the entrance of high-speed rail to the exit. High speed rail has folded time and space, constantly aggregating resources such as technology, economy, culture, and healthcare, and is also nurturing and giving birth to new innovative development models. The high-speed rail is connecting the Yangtze River Delta region into a city, giving birth to "rail talents" and becoming a strike force and regular force for regional innovation and industrial upgrading, injecting strong new momentum into the integration of the Yangtze River Delta to a higher level of development. For many years, "rail talents" have been driving the economic development of the Yangtze River Delta region from a cost driven stage of scale expansion to a new stage of innovation driven high-quality development. Taking Shanghai and Hefei as an example, during the era of conventional railways, it took more than ten hours to travel between Shanghai by detour from Bengbu; In the era of high-speed rail, trains traveling between two cities only took two to three hours. Chen Xiaojian observed that high-level professionals are increasingly exhibiting a characteristic - the areas of work and life do not necessarily overlap, often not in the same city. At the same time, the density of "rail talents" in the Yangtze River Delta region has skyrocketed, and talent continues to cluster and produce a "swarm effect". In the Yangtze River Delta region, which has the highest talent density and knowledge concentration in China, a group of "innovation highlands" are emerging, driving industrial upgrading and economic development, and achieving a virtuous cycle of industry, academia, and research. The flow of these "rail talents" has promoted the efficient flow and optimal allocation of production factors, achieved the maximization of technology and talent value, and is becoming a multiplier for regional development. Liquidity is a fundamental characteristic and attribute of talent. From an economic perspective, talent possesses a relatively rich stock of knowledge capital that belongs to individuals and is a scarce innovation resource. Talent mobility is a mechanism of "voting with one's feet", and talent turnover is actually a positive behavior of optimizing resource allocation and sharing benefits by activating market forces, promoting the dissemination of knowledge and the diffusion of technology.

Building a platform for sharing and collaboration

Futurist Kevin Kelly wrote in "A World 5000 Days Later" that we can foresee significant changes in the way people work in the future, with scenes of millions of people working together constantly emerging. Chen Xiaojian agrees with this point and believes that the unprecedented changes in work methods brought about by AI technology pose challenges to the reform of our existing personnel system. The transition of talents from "one owned" to "everyone owned" and "shared by society" is not only an urgent need for talent system management reform, but also a necessary preparation for the unprecedented emergence of new work methods in the AI era. In January of this year, Hefei issued several policies to support the construction of "University of Science and Technology Silicon Valley", which included one provision: Hefei supports the introduction of high-level talents by new research and development institutions, allowing talents to sign employment agreements with universities and new research and development institutions respectively, achieving "dual residency". This policy has suddenly attracted many people to come to the Silicon Valley of USTC for part-time development. In addition, Anhui and Jiangsu have taken the lead in establishing a work permit mutual recognition system for foreign high-end talents in the Nanjing metropolitan area, further promoting cross regional exchange of scientific and technological talents. Don't ask for everything, just ask for what you use! Chen Xiaojian envisioned whether such policies could be extended to the entire Yangtze River Delta, establishing platforms and carriers in the three provinces and one city to undertake the flow of professional talents, "allowing innovative talents to not eat from each household, but from everyone," and achieving a sharing and cooperation mechanism in the Yangtze River Delta where "you have me, I have you", in order to promote the comprehensive release of the value and dividends of high-level talents. The gratifying change is that in recent years, exchanges and exchanges between universities in the Yangtze River Delta have become increasingly active. Among them, the University of Science and Technology of China has established a series of cooperation mechanisms, including the Yangtze River Delta Research University Alliance, the Yangtze River Delta University Think Tank Alliance, the Yangtze River Delta Sustainable Development University Alliance, the Yangtze River Delta Carbon and Industry University Research Alliance, with other universities and research institutes, including Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, and others.