China unveils homegrown China Operating System
January 24, 2014, 8:31 pm
In an effort to promote Chinese innovation and limit the influence of foreign software, the Chinese government unveiled the China Operating System on Jan 15.
Introducing the China Operating System
Unveiled on January 15, the China Operating System (COS) is billed as the first natively created operating system in China, one that supposedly does not make use of existing open source software. Based on the Linux language, the COS is created by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a Shanghai-based technology company, Liantong Network Communications Technology.
National Security Overtones
The Chinese government has long been uncomfortable with the dominance of foreign software in China's technology market, particularly Android and iOS mobile operating systems. But following the whistle-blower leaks of NSA activities by Edward Snowden, which have made clear the NSA exploits every opportunity to collect electronic data, the Chinese have made it a national security priority to create their own mobile operating system to power future generations of mobile devices.
In addition to the desire to promote domestic innovation and warranted concerns about security flaws within foreign-produced computer code, the Chinese government is keen to own its own software platform with special attendant backdoor access. For example, the Chinese government spends more than $110 billion USD annually on its domestic spy programs, according to the Economist, and the ability to tap the fountains of information people store on their mobile devices is likely a tantalizing prize.
China Operating System's Ambitions
As with much else in China, the COS harbors great ambitions. It's "ultimate goal," according to one representative close to the project, is to become the dominant mobile operating system in the country. This is a lofty goal, considering that 90% of the mobile devices in China run Google's Android operating system, according to the NY Times. Even Alibaba, the giant Chinese e-commerce company that is investing heavily in developing mobile hardware and software, uses Google's Android as the foundation of its mobile operating system. How much traction the COS attains among Chinese consumers in the coming years will depend upon its ability to compete in a competitive marketplace. It sure will be interesting to see how this all plays outs.
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