Instrument Sharing in the ''Sharing Economy''

Introduction: Following the emergence of shared bicycles, the "sharing economy" has become incredibly popular, becoming one of the hottest keywords. As a new economic phenomenon and form, the "sharing economy" not only achieves a new resource allocation method that efficiently matches supply and demand, but also represents a new consumption pattern and lifestyle.

With the "sharing economy" receiving enthusiastic support from the capital market, various shared products have sprung up, such as shared cars, shared umbrellas, shared power banks, and so on; almost anything can be labeled as "sharing."

Looking at the instrumentation industry, news about the open sharing of scientific research instruments frequently appears in the media, becoming a hot topic. Instrument sharing is a concept introduced from abroad by some domestic companies in recent years to save on the procurement and maintenance costs of large-scale instruments and equipment. It refers to a situation where, after a research institute, enterprise, or individual in a certain region purchases a certain instrument or equipment, other enterprises or individuals in that region do not need to purchase it again, but can instead borrow the instrument or equipment through relevant government policies.

In recent years, with the rapid development of science and technology, the country has increasingly emphasized scientific research and innovation, investing heavily in the purchase of scientific research instruments and equipment to meet the needs of scientific research. However, with the increasing number of scientific research instruments and equipment each year, the problem of low utilization rates has also arisen. According to relevant statistics, my country currently possesses more scientific research instruments and equipment than Western countries such as the UK, but the utilization rate of many of these instruments and equipment is less than 25%, resulting in serious idleness and waste.

To address this problem, my country is continuously exploring strategies for opening up and sharing scientific research instruments and equipment with the public. In 2014, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Opening National Major Scientific Research Infrastructure and Large-scale Scientific Instruments to the Public" (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions), requiring institutions possessing large-scale scientific research instruments and equipment to open them to the public, allowing small and medium-sized enterprises that cannot afford such equipment to use them. This aims to reduce redundant construction and purchase of scientific research instruments and equipment, saving national financial resources; on the other hand, since most of these instruments and equipment were purchased with national fiscal appropriations and are public resources, their utilization efficiency should be improved.

In the three years since the issuance of the Opinions, many universities and research institutes have responded to the State Council's call by establishing projects for sharing university instruments and equipment and high-quality resources, as well as establishing instrument sharing management or service platforms. Meanwhile, various provinces and municipalities have actively responded. Provinces such as Sichuan, Jiangsu, Guizhou, and Guangxi have established regional instrument sharing platforms, opening their laboratories and equipment, and providing subsidies for instrument sharing to promote the development of small and micro-sized technology enterprises. For example, in Sichuan Province, since opening its shared instrument service platform in early January 2017, the platform has gathered over 1,300 sets of large-scale instruments and equipment with military-civilian integration characteristics across 15 major categories, along with over 180 instrument service experts, providing testing services for nearly 10,000 indicators.

However, everything has two sides. With the implementation of the "Opinions," while the opening and sharing of scientific research instruments and equipment has yielded good results, what impact will it have on instrument and meter companies? We know that the emergence of numerous shared bicycles has solved the "last mile" problem for people's travel, but it has also reduced the willingness of individuals and families to own their own bicycles; the appearance of shared cars on the streets has changed people's travel methods and facilitated travel, but it has also affected the livelihoods of taxi companies and drivers.

When shared instruments are widely adopted in society, research institutions, researchers, and small and medium-sized enterprises will benefit from the convenience of using scientific research equipment, but this will inevitably reduce their purchase of instruments and meters. So how can instrument and meter companies stand firm and thrive in this wave of instrument sharing? Faced with the arrival of this wave, it is understood that some instrument and meter companies have already partnered with instrument sharing service platforms to provide maintenance services for all instruments on the platform, with potential revenues exceeding 100 million yuan. This fully demonstrates that as long as instrument and meter companies change their mindset from instrument manufacturers to comprehensive instrument and meter service providers, they can always find new breakthroughs, development points, and footholds in the new situation.

While facing the impact of the instrument sharing "wave," instrument and meter companies must change their original development strategies, expand their technologies, and leverage the commercial value of the internet and big data. They must allow the open internet and big data to become new driving forces for enterprise innovation and development, promote the modernization of the instrument and meter industry, and actively integrate into the trend of instrument sharing.

Therefore, regardless of whether instrument sharing emerges, instrument and meter companies will still face different competitive pressures. The only thing they can do is to improve their product research and development innovation level, management level, operation capabilities, and comprehensive service capabilities, so as to adapt to all changes and avoid being eliminated in the fierce market competition.