26th International Association for Management of Technology Conference - IAMOT 2017

Cloud computing is major technological revolution which represents the future development of ICT industry. It has gained vast attention and been actively promoted by governments, enterprises, research institutions and industry alliances around the world due to its technological advancement and availability. This study seeks to investigate the technological trends, competition status, key technologies and regional distribution of cloud computing industry in China based on patent analysis, including inventor analysis, assignee analysis, citation analysis and IPC analysis. An innovative cooperation network is established to further analyze the cooperative relationship between patent owners by using a social network analysis tool-UCIENT software. On this basis, the R&D strategies and technological strength of two major Chinese enterprises, namely Huawei technologies and ZTE Corporation, are studied and compared to indicate the strength and weakness of Chinese enterprise’s process in developing cloud computing technologies. According to the research results, several suggestions are put forward to guide an in-depth layout blueprint of cloud computing industry development in China. The findings of this study are expected to provide valuable references for enterprises to develop cloud computing technologies and for government to make decisions. Key words: Cloud computing, technological development, patent analysis, social network analysis, suggestions