Competitive Intelligence (Competitive Intelligence, CI) is not a new thing, as early as more than 2000 years ago, Sun Tzu in ancient China, with simple language reasonably explains the basic principles of intelligence, "know yourself and know your enemy, a hundred battles will not be dangerous; don't know each other and know yourself, a win or a loss; don't know each other, don't know yourself, every battle will be dangerous", "so the wise ruler and wise general, so move and win, success out of the crowd, the prophet". Every battle will be dangerous", "Therefore, the wise king will be wise, so move and win people, success out of the crowd, the prophet".

Modern competitive intelligence appeared in the 1950s and made its debut in the 1980s, marked by the founding of SCIP (Society of Competitive Intelligence Practitioners in the United States) in 1986, and has been widely popularized and successfully applied by leading companies and industries in economically developed countries in the past 30 years. 2008 saw SCIP renamed the Society of Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Practitioners (SCCIP), which distinctly highlights the importance of competitive intelligence as a means of gaining insights into publicly available information. Intelligence is to provide decision-making support and early warning to senior management through in-depth tracking, analysis and research of public information.

In 2002, a professional competitive intelligence promotion and popularization organization appeared in China: Beijing Zhongxing Xinjing Information Technology Research Institute, which has been carrying out competitive intelligence consulting and training for Chinese enterprises since 2002, and has been working in the Ministry of Information Industry, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the State Patent Office, the State Information Center, the Research Office of the State Council, Zou Zuye, the Director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, the China Science and Technology Information Institute, the Shanghai Research Institute of Science and Technology, the Nanjing Institute of Science and Technology, and the Nanjing Institute of Technology. Shanghai Research Institute of Science and Technology Intelligence, Nanjing University, Peking University, Tsinghua University and other departments and leaders of the support, and Baidu Baidu, TRS and other domestic and foreign counterparts of the support *** with the efforts of the competitive intelligence in China has been rapid application and popularization. A large number of China's industry-leading enterprises gradually established a competitive intelligence department, every day in the domestic large-scale job sites on the market intelligence, technical intelligence, competitive intelligence positions have become a well-known enterprises of the necessary job requirements.

The annual China Competitive Intelligence International Conference held since 2005, the world's top 500 companies from more than 20 countries around the world HP HP, IBM, DELL Dell, Merck, PSA Peugeot Citroen Group, Michelin, Philips, Deloitte & Touche, Shenhua Group, Bulgaria Investment Group, Shanghai Automotive Group, Baosteel Group, China Telecom Guangdong Research Institute and other presidents, directors of strategic intelligence. The president, director of strategic intelligence, director of market intelligence, director of technical intelligence, and professors of competitive intelligence from Peking University, Nanjing University, Wilkes University and other colleges and universities were the guest speakers, which led the cognition and application of competitive intelligence by Chinese enterprises to a brand new stage.

Science and Technology Daily, May 11, 2014, front page, "Don't let Chinese enterprises lose on competitive intelligence," competitive intelligence should become an effective support and a powerful gripping hand for wise decision-making by Chinese top managers. The State Council on October 28, 2014, "the State Council on accelerating the development of science and technology services," State Development [2014] No. 49 document clearly states: support the development of competitive intelligence analysis and other scientific and technological information services, and to cultivate a number of service organizations and leading enterprises with well-known brands.

Big Data provides the technical foundation and broad application era background for the authenticity, precision and real-time of competitive intelligence.

In the era of big data, competitive intelligence is a weapon to master competitors' market intelligence, technical intelligence and participate in international competition!