Chen Jiming, President of Hangzhou Dianzi University (HDU), China, delivered a keynote speech titled "AI+ Interdisciplinary Talent Cultivation for the Digital Industry: HDU Practices" at the parallel session on "AI Education Development and Evaluation" during the 2026 World Digital Education Conference.

He noted that the digital economy is developing rapidly, which imposes corresponding demands on talent cultivation. He expressed the hope that those who wish to work in the digital economy in the future will understand AI, be familiar with the industry, and possess the ability to implement ideas and innovate. Adhering to the philosophy of "industry-oriented, practice-driven, and integration-innovation," Hangzhou Dianzi University has systematically advanced reforms in cultivating interdisciplinary and innovative talents, primarily in five areas.

First, reshaping professional connotations. Hangzhou Dianzi University began exploring professional upgrading pathways such as "Digital+", "Internet+", and "Smart+" at an early stage. Courses in programming, AI general education, AI integration, and cutting-edge technologies have been integrated into the core curriculum of related programs.

Second, strengthening the curriculum system. The curriculum system is built with the goal of achieving "digital competence development." For example, AI Mathematical Foundations are offered in the mathematics and science foundation area to cultivate underlying digital-logic thinking. In the area of digital thinking, the "Ten Thousand Lines of Code" project has been implemented, primarily to cultivate students' "AI+X" interdisciplinary thinking. In the area of digital technology courses, core technology chain and core algorithm chain courses are offered to promote the development of students' software-hardware integrated digital intelligence capabilities.

Third, establishing a practice-based education model. A long-cycle practice-based education model is created using real projects as drivers. In the third and fourth semesters of the sophomore year, innovative practice courses are offered, featuring consistent mentorship, coherent course content, and individualised cultivation processes. Through these innovative practice courses, over 8,000 students have participated in more than 2,000 faculty research projects over the past four years.

Fourth, strengthening industry-education integration. Leveraging its strengths in electronic information and collaborating with leading industry companies, HDU has jointly established 145 industry-education integration bases, achieving shared curriculum development, faculty resources, and platforms, as well as shared outcomes. It has also established the nation's first AI Open Source Ecosystem Academy, primarily introducing the concept of "open source ecosystem education" into student development processes.

Fifth, building a distinctive educational environment. Using its digital platforms, the university has built a digital twin campus that supports 100% online processing for over 50 high-frequency student affairs. A digital intelligence learning platform has been developed, enabling all courses to be offered online and supporting personalised and ubiquitous learning for students. Several future classrooms are currently being developed, primarily using AR and VR technologies to achieve "teacher-student-machine" tripartite collaboration, with the aim of using AI technologies to improve students' learning efficiency.

Chen Jiming stated that HDU will continue to deeply cultivate the digital economy, uphold the university's spirit of "national commitment and dedicated effort," and persistently explore new pathways for cultivating AI+ interdisciplinary innovative talents. It will provide talent support for Zhejiang's high-quality development to build a demonstration zone for common prosperity, and it hopes to contribute an "HDU Model" to world digital education.