What Jiang Zemin Predicted About AI and SaaS in 2008 – A 10‑Year Retrospective

In October 2008, Jiang Zemin published a paper titled “Development of China’s Information Technology Industry in the New Era” in the Journal of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Jiang, a 1947 graduate of the university’s Electrical Engineering department, was 82 years old when he wrote the paper.

In the paper he argued that future intelligence and machine learning would play a major role, that research on GPU technology should be intensified, and that SaaS would become an important direction for software development.

Today, with the internet industry booming, machine‑learning applications permeate all branches of artificial intelligence, and countries worldwide are investing heavily to secure a strategic advantage.

The author admires Jiang’s insight and foresight, noting how remarkable it is for an octogenarian to continue caring about national development.

Below are the scanned pages of the original paper:

Jiang Zemin, a 1947 graduate of Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Electrical Engineering department, was praised in 2010 by Party Secretary Ma Dexiu as having deep knowledge and insightful views in both energy and information technology.

The paper was published more than ten years ago, and the development of the information‑technology industry since then has been described as “advancing by a thousand miles a day,” making it a strategic high ground that nations strive to dominate.

Reading this work leaves the author deeply moved, both by Jiang’s continued concern for the nation at age 82 and by his visionary foresight.