Rebirth: Starting from Lighting Up the Tech Tree

Chapter 85 Citywide Promotion

The news that the pilot program in Xihu District had passed the evaluation caused a stir within 402 Technology.

Liu Wei rushed back from the client's office, shouting as he entered, "Have you heard? The city is going to promote this throughout the entire city! Our 402 is about to take off!"

Zhang Lei rolled his eyes at him: "Can't you be a little more mature?"

"Steady my foot! I'm happy!" Liu Wei plopped down in a chair. "The 120 million Sky Dome project, the 8 million smart city pilot project, and now at least 50 million for citywide rollout—402 Technology's revenue will definitely break 200 million next year!"

Zuo Cheng walked out of his office and glanced at Liu Wei: "Don't be so happy, there's still a lot of work to be done. The city-wide rollout involves six districts, 5000 sensors, and 150 edge gateways, all to be deployed within three months. Our current manpower simply isn't enough."

Liu Wei immediately became serious: "So you're hiring?"

"Recruit," Zuo Cheng said. "Han Lu is already making arrangements. We'll be recruiting fifteen more people this time, mainly on-site engineers and maintenance personnel. In addition, graduate students from the joint laboratory will also participate in the deployment, while sensor calibration and adjustment will be handled by Yu Ying's team."

"What about logistical support?" Liu Wei asked. "With six districts operating simultaneously, equipment procurement, transportation, warehousing, installation, and scheduling all require personnel to manage."

"You take care of it," Zuo Cheng said.

Liu Wei was taken aback: "Me?"

"Yes, it's you," Zuo Cheng said. "Chen Hao and Ma Hao handle the technical aspects, and Han Lu handles the business, but logistical support has always been 402's weak point. With six districts operating simultaneously, equipment scheduling, personnel arrangements, and progress coordination all require a reliable person to manage. You are the most suitable candidate."

Liu Wei was silent for a few seconds, then nodded emphatically: "Okay, leave it to me. I'll take charge of everything—the distribution of supplies, personnel arrangements, and progress tracking—across all six districts."

Zuo Cheng patted him on the shoulder: "If you encounter any difficulties, just come to me. Logistical support is the foundation of city-wide implementation. What you're doing may seem insignificant, but without you, the people on the front lines wouldn't even be able to get their tools."

Liu Wei chuckled: "Brother Cheng, don't worry, I'll handle the logistics perfectly."

The citywide rollout launch meeting was held the following day. The conference room was packed, with over twenty people sitting around the table in two circles. Zuo Cheng expanded the project team to twenty-five people, dividing them into five groups: Algorithm Group, System Group, Hardware Group, Deployment Group, and Logistics Group. Ma Hao led the Algorithm Group, Chen Hao led the System Group, Zhang Lei led the Hardware Group, the newly recruited field engineers formed the Deployment Group, and Liu Wei led the Logistics Group. Each group had clearly defined responsibilities and delivery milestones, all of which Zuo Cheng wrote down on a whiteboard for easy reference.

"The timeline is three months, divided into three phases," Zuo Cheng said, standing in front of the whiteboard. "The first phase will last one month, completing the deployment in two districts. The second phase will last one month, completing the deployment in the remaining three districts. The third phase will last half a month, completing the final district and system-wide integration testing. The last half month is a buffer period to handle any remaining issues."

"What about hardware procurement?" Zhang Lei asked. "Can the supply chain keep up with the demand for 5000 sensors and 150 gateways?"

"I've already contacted three suppliers," Zuo Cheng said. "The standard sensor models are in stock and will arrive within two weeks. The edge gateway is custom-made, with a three-week production cycle, and I've already placed an order. As for price, bulk purchasing is 15% lower than during the pilot phase, so the budget is manageable."

"What about the funding?" Han Lu asked. "The contracts for city-wide rollout haven't been signed yet. Where will the initial investment come from? What if the contracts don't go through?"

"The first installment of 3600 million yuan for the third phase of the Sky Dome project has arrived," Zuo Cheng said. "The initial investment for the citywide rollout of the smart city is estimated at 2000 million yuan, which will be allocated from the Sky Dome project. Once the contracts are signed, the funds will be reimbursed. As for the risk of not securing contracts, I am very confident with the support of pilot project data."

Han Lu nodded and noted it down.

After the meeting, Zuo Cheng returned to his office, where Yu Ying was waiting for him.

"Brother, there's something I want to tell you." Yu Ying's expression was somewhat serious.

"What is it?"

"The joint laboratory has a new achievement: a sensor anomaly detection algorithm based on deep learning," Yu Ying said. "It has an accuracy rate of 98% and a false alarm rate of only 0.3%. I plan to use it in a city-wide rollout program."

Zuo Cheng thought for a moment: "Deep learning-based anomaly detection? This would be very useful in smart city scenarios. Sensors are deployed in cities, where the environment is complex, and malfunctions and anomalies are common. If there were an algorithm that could automatically detect anomalies, maintenance costs could be significantly reduced."

"Yes," Yu Ying said. "Moreover, this algorithm can be integrated with your edge scheduling system, performing anomaly detection at the gateway level, without needing to transmit all data back to the cloud."

"Edge AI?" Zuo Cheng's heart skipped a beat. Isn't this the direction where the AI ​​branch and the Internet of Things branch intersect on the technology tree? Ma Hao had mentioned the idea of ​​IoT plus AI before, and Yu Ying has now seen this direction as well.

"Okay, add it in," Zuo Cheng said. "But you have to give me a working, engineered version, not just a model from a paper. It needs to run on an edge gateway and use no more than 50 MB of memory."

"I'll give it to you within a week," Yu Ying said.

"good."

After Yu Ying left, Zuo Cheng sat alone in his office, opened the system panel, and glanced at the status of the AI ​​branch. It was still grayed out and not activated. Several faint leaf outlines were vaguely visible on the branch, like dormant seeds waiting to be awakened.

However, both Yu Ying's algorithm and Ma Hao's approach point in the same direction: the integration of IoT and AI. Edge AI is not a random flash of inspiration, but an inevitable trend in technological development. The Internet of Things generates massive amounts of data, which need to be processed by AI, and AI in turn needs edge computing to reduce latency. These three elements form a closed loop, and the starting point of this loop lies in the 402 IoT solution.

Perhaps the conditions for activating the branches of AI lie in the intersection of the Internet of Things and AI.

He turned off the system panel and looked out at the city. The Hangzhou skyline was exceptionally clear in the autumn sunlight, and several high-rise buildings under construction were rising from the ground in the distance.

402 is growing, and so is the technology tree. Every technological breakthrough and every project implementation is accumulating energy for the next stage of evolution.

The city-wide rollout is just another starting point. Zuo Cheng knows that the real stars and the sea of ​​knowledge are still waiting for him in a much farther place. And what he has to do is keep running until he arrives.