With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and big data technologies, data has become a key production factor, and data security and privacy protection have become urgent security issues that need to be addressed. As a core technology for ensuring data security in the digital age, confidential computing has become a critical pivot for balancing the release of data value and privacy protection, holding significant strategic importance for maintaining national digital sovereignty and promoting the development of the digital economy. As a member and management committee unit of the Global Computing Consortium (GCC) Confidential Computing Special Committee, Nanhu Laboratory has achieved remarkable results in the field of confidential computing. In this issue of the GCC Salon, we delve into this new research and development institution located by the South Lake in Jiaxing, engaging in an in-depth dialogue with Deputy Director Jiang Tingting about their explorations and practices in the field of confidential computing.
Now, let us explore the unique experiences of Nanhu Laboratory in team building, standard formulation, and future layout in the field of confidential computing through our interview with Deputy Director Jiang Tingting.
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Nanhu’s “Three Forces”
Focusing on talent development “Three Forces” Model
As a strategic platform focusing on breakthroughs in cutting-edge technology, Nanhu Laboratory has established six major research centers, possesses a national-level postdoctoral research station, and is one of the first newly approved research and development institutions in Zhejiang Province. The laboratory is led by six academicians and implements a “lead by academicians, managed by chief scientists” mechanism. Currently, Nanhu Laboratory has gathered over 390 research talents, with a master’s and doctoral ratio of 92%, laying a solid intellectual foundation for technological breakthroughs.
During the interview, Director Jiang Tingting revealed to us the “threefold attraction” of Nanhu Laboratory in aggregating high-end talent, providing a referenceable model for talent development—
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Strategic Attraction: Building a National-Level Innovation Stage
Nanhu Laboratory uses national-level major projects as a “strong magnetic field” to provide a practical platform for talents to participate in national strategic needs, attracting global talents who aspire to achieve breakthroughs in original, leading, and disruptive research. This strategic positioning, which closely aligns personal academic pursuits with national development needs, not only allows researchers to gain a sense of accomplishment in overcoming key technologies but also enables them to accumulate top industry resources in major projects, forming a virtuous cycle of “project-driven talent attraction and talent-driven research”.
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Hard Support: Creating a Comprehensive Research and Living Environment
In terms of hardware facilities, Nanhu Laboratory comprehensively plans from research needs to living details: equipping internationally leading research equipment to meet research demands while also creating a garden-style research park environment, equipped with academic lecture halls, talent apartments, shuttle buses, and other facilities to provide talents with a comfortable and convenient working and living space. By improving “hard facilities”, it alleviates the concerns of talents, allowing them to fully devote themselves to innovative work, achieving a dual enhancement of research efficiency and quality of life.
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Ecological Competitiveness: Innovating a “Flexible Talent Attraction” Mechanism
Nanhu Laboratory always adheres to the philosophy of “not seeking to own but to utilize”, breaking through traditional talent hiring models by aggregating various talents through dual hiring, part-time positions, rotations, dispatches, and task contracts, attracting top global intellectual resources for its use. At the same time, it establishes a complete research career development pathway, with salaries benchmarked against first-tier cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen, achieving an ecological aggregation effect of “retaining and effectively utilizing talent”.
Technological Leadership:
From National Standards to Industrial Application Innovations
Nanhu Laboratory joined the GCC Confidential Computing Special Committee (CC-SIG) in August 2024. Currently, Nanhu has achieved multiple cutting-edge results in the field of confidential computing, participating in the formulation of several national standards such as the general framework for confidential computing, and has taken the lead in applying it in typical fields such as government affairs, finance, and transportation. These achievements are significant in helping the industry understand confidential computing, accelerating the landing of typical applications, and enhancing the overall information security of the country.
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Collaborative Innovation Achievements under the GCC Framework
As an important member unit of the GCC CC-SIG, Nanhu Laboratory deeply participates in industrial collaboration, playing a key role in standard formulation and industrial practice.
In the integration of theoretical research and industrial needs, Nanhu Laboratory participated in the compilation of the “Confidential Computing White Paper (2024)” and is currently leading the formulation of the “Remote Proof Standard for Confidential Computing” and the “Trusted Data Space Standard Based on Confidential Computing”, actively providing the industry with systematic technical frameworks and application guidelines. In addition, the “Trusted Data Circulation Platform Solution Based on Confidential Computing” proposed by Nanhu Laboratory has also been included in the “2024 Global Computing Industry Case Compilation (GMVPS)”, validating the effectiveness of its technical solutions in practical scenarios and highlighting the important role of Nanhu Laboratory in the GCC ecosystem.
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Multi-Level Layout: Problem-Oriented—Policy Response—International Strategy
In the five years since its establishment, Nanhu Laboratory has achieved numerous fruitful results, significantly impacting the development of the global computing industry. During the dialogue, Director Jiang Tingting also revealed the industry status and international background on which Nanhu Laboratory undertakes these important tasks.
In today’s rapidly penetrating digital economy, the value of data as a key production factor is increasingly prominent, but the lack of unified standards in the industry leads to high development costs, lack of credibility in security verification, and poor cross-platform interoperability. This series of data security and privacy protection challenges has become a prominent pain point restricting industrial upgrading.
In response to this industrial bottleneck, the state has issued the “Action Plan for the Development of Trusted Data Spaces (2024-2028)”, which points the way for the industry, clearly requiring the construction of a trusted data circulation system. Nanhu Laboratory actively responds to the national data element strategy, providing dual guarantees of technology and standards for the circulation of highly sensitive data in government affairs, finance, and other sectors through the standards of confidential computing technology.
Moreover, in the context of global competition, the right to formulate standards directly relates to the discourse power of the industry. In the face of the increasingly fierce standard competition in the international confidential computing field, Nanhu Laboratory participates in the top-level design of national core standards, not only filling the gap in domestic technical specifications but also aiming to break international monopolies, establish international standard discourse power, and enhance China’s influence in the field of privacy computing.
Future Outlook:
The Three Evolution Directions of Confidential Computing and Nanhu’s Layout
At this critical juncture of deepening the digital economy, confidential computing is ushering in an important window period for technological evolution and industrial landing. Director Jiang Tingting also shared with us the development trajectory of the industry from Nanhu’s perspective for the next 3-5 years—
As artificial intelligence large models penetrate various industries, the privacy and compliance of data will face higher demands. Confidential computing technology, due to its advantages in performance and applicability, will gradually become a preferred solution for the security protection of artificial intelligence large models. Director Tingting believes: “In the next 3-5 years, confidential computing technology will inevitably develop towards scalability, accessibility, and clustering to support the high-performance computing requirements of artificial intelligence large models.
Standing at the forefront of the digital economy, Nanhu Laboratory has long been making cutting-edge layouts in the field of confidential computing. In terms of technological research and development, the laboratory has formed a dedicated research team for clustered confidential computing, integrating multidisciplinary forces to form a task force, committed to quickly focusing on core technical bottlenecks such as underlying algorithms and hardware trust roots of confidential computing through cross-domain collaboration mechanisms, providing a solid technical foundation for industrial applications.
In terms of industrial collaboration, Director Tingting expressed full support and recognition for the GCC and emphasized that “Nanhu Laboratory will strengthen deep cooperation with the GCC, fully support the relevant work of the GCC, and vigorously promote the standardization, white papers, and pilot work in the field of confidential computing within the alliance framework, leading the iteration of technology through standardization, and working with more industry peers to jointly promote the vigorous development of the field of confidential computing”.
Conclusion
In the accelerating tide of digital civilization, Nanhu Laboratory takes the exploration of innovative breakthroughs in confidential computing as its mission, leading the construction of a new order for industry development through standards, and using the “power of breaking the cocoon” to drive the deep reconstruction of the confidential computing industry ecosystem. Every step of exploration by Nanhu Laboratory carries the important responsibility of promoting the safe and efficient development of the digital economy. When data becomes the “blood” of digital civilization, confidential computing serves as the “safety barrier” protecting this precious resource, ensuring that data flows without losing control and sharing without leaking, injecting trust genes into the innovative vitality of the digital economy. As Director Tingting said, we believe that Nanhu Laboratory will continue to shoulder its mission and move forward, making confidential computing a solid foundation for supporting digital civilization.
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Further Reading
·Column Introduction·
“Leaders’ Words”
Navigating Industry Development Trends
Outputting Core Views on Industry Development Directions
“CXO Path”
Decoding the Stories Behind Strategic Layouts
Sharing New Thoughts on Industry Development Frontiers
“Industry Voices”
Showcasing the Prosperous Ecology of the Industry
Discussing Pain Points, Sharing Experiences, and Presenting Examples from the Customer Perspective
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Teacher Ju
Teacher Xue
