Alibaba offers big data service to local governments

Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Monday that it will launch a new big data service to help local governments across China improve their decision making process in e-commerce development.

The service, which is expected to be officially rolled out in April, is exclusively available to local governments at all levels in China.

Once they have gained access to the service, government decision makers can search all kinds of e-commerce related statistics, including regional online shopping transactions and the number of packages shipped out of or delivered to their region.

The service is aimed at helping local government decision makers gain a deeper understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of their local e-commerce and the Web economy compared with other regions.