On June 11, the "Data Annotation Across 100 Cities (Nanjing Stop)" event was held in Nanjing under the guidance of the Jiangsu Provincial Data Bureau. The event was jointly organized by the Nanjing Municipal Data Bureau, the Xuanwu District People's Government, and the China Association of Information, and was hosted by the Xuanwu District Data Bureau and the Special Committee on Datasets and Data Annotation of the China Association of Information. As one of the industry-academia-research cooperation projects signed during the event, the School of Cyber Science and Engineering at Southeast University (SEU) signed an agreement with Jiangsu Zhongkun Data Technology Co., Ltd. to jointly establish the "Laboratory for Trusted Data Security and Intelligent Governance."
The event, themed "Advancing Data Annotation Applications and Building a Hub for Data-Intelligent Development: Nanjing's Innovative Practices and Exploration in Model-Data Resonance," brought together more than 300 representatives from data groups, research institutes, industry organizations, and enterprises across China. During the event, the Public Service Platform for Data Annotation and High-Quality Datasets was launched, and 49 pilot projects for the 2026 Jiangsu high-quality dataset development initiative were released. Agreements on the joint establishment of data laboratories and industry cooperation projects in multiple fields were also signed, injecting fresh momentum into Nanjing's efforts to develop high-quality datasets and strengthen its data-industry ecosystem.
The Laboratory will address security and trust requirements in data element circulation and artificial intelligence applications through joint research in privacy-enhancing computation, data security governance, intelligent annotation, data quality assessment, cross-modal data calibration, and compliant circulation. Building on SEU's disciplinary strengths in cyberspace security, artificial intelligence security, and data security, and drawing on Zhongkun Data's practical experience in data services and industry applications, the Laboratory will advance scientific research, scenario validation, talent cultivation, and the commercialization of research outcomes in a coordinated manner.
Under the preliminary development plan, faculty members Cao Yang and Gong Xin will serve as the Laboratory's director and deputy director, respectively. Relevant research teams from the School will carry out technical research on trusted data security and intelligent governance to support high-quality dataset development, the secure circulation of data elements, and artificial intelligence applications.
The joint establishment of the Laboratory is an important initiative through which the School serves the development of Digital China and the AI Plus Initiative while deepening collaborative innovation across industry, academia, research, and application. Moving forward, the School and Zhongkun Data will further leverage the research strengths of the university and the scenario strengths of the enterprise. Centering on industry needs in data security and governance, the School will improve the full-chain technical framework of "data collection - security protection - intelligent governance - compliant circulation," support Nanjing in building a hub for data-intelligent development, and contribute SEU's cybersecurity expertise and strength to a secure and trusted data-element ecosystem.
