2.1 Data as a New Factor of Production, Giving Rise to Computing Power Networks

Data is the new factor of production in the modern era, and computing power is the rate at which devices process data. The rapid expansion of data volume has significantly increased the demand for computing power. With the development of the digital economy, we are now in an era of exponential data growth. Relevant statistics indicate that the global data volume is expected to reach 2,142ZB by 2035.

Computing power is a positive indicator of a device's data processing capability, typically measured in floating-point operations per second (Flops). According to McKinsey's business survey results, it is predicted that by the end of 2023, the global total computing power will exceed 200EFLOPS. It is also forecasted that the global computing power scale will reach 3,300EFLOPS by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 50% from 2020 to 2025.