As an emerging government function, the role and functions of the Big Data Bureau are different from those of traditional government departments. In terms of its responsibilities, the Big Data Bureau is mainly responsible for the management, application, opening and trading of big data, and is also involved in the construction of smart cities and the promotion of e-government. In the past, these responsibilities might be scattered among several departments, such as the information technology department, the science and technology department or the statistics department. However, there is no specific department that corresponds exactly to the Big Data Bureau. If it is hard to draw an analogy with a certain department in the past, the closest analogy may be the information technology department or the science and technology department, as they are also involved in the management and application of information technology. However, it should be emphasized that there are significant differences between the scope, focus and approach of the work of the Big Data Bureau and that of the traditional information technology or science and technology departments. The Big Data Bureau focuses more on the collection, processing and application of data, as well as the management of aspects such as the opening up and trading of data. In summary, the Big Data Bureau, as an emerging functional department, does not have an exact counterpart to the departments of the past. It represents the government's new attempts and explorations in the era of informatization and digitization.