A cloud computing base will be built in Cixi, a satellite city of Ningbo, as the Cixi government and Hangzhou DT Dream signed a contract on Jan 17. It will be the first big data project under way this year after Ningbo and Alibaba Group inked a framework agreement last year.

Hangzhou DT Dream is a cloud service provider owned by Alibaba, the Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant. According to the agreement, the Ningbo Big Data Base will serve users from the government to enterprises and individuals.

The Cixi government will use the DT Dream server to provide public services in the next three years. "The governmental platform can save residents time and trips. In the future, the resident identity card will have more functions and can be used as a public transport card, health care card and Alipay card," said Hu Xiaoming, president of AliCloud.

He said companies can benefit from cloud services at a small cost and greatly improve their productivity and efficiency. Individuals, too, can benefit from cloud services and do a lot of things online with a few clicks.

Some household appliances manufacturers in Cixi already used AliCloud services to make smart products. An Internet-connected coffeemaker, for example, can be controlled remotely using a mobile app. Intelligent appliances are now popular among more and more consumers.