The 2026 RT-Thread developer conference was held on Jan 17 in Shanghai's Lin-gang Special Area, bringing together more than a thousand representatives from the robotics, automotive, and other industries.

The 2026 RT-Thread developer conference is held on Jan 17 in Lin-gang Special Area. [Photo/Wenhui Daily]

As a key player in China's embedded operating systems, RT-Thread now powers more than 2.5 billion devices, with widespread applications in aerospace, intelligent vehicles, industrial control, and other critical sectors.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of RT-Thread's commitment to the open-source community, and the company plans to expand its online developer ecosystem into offline spaces.

With more than 300,000 developers, RT-Thread will engage local universities and enterprises across the automotive, integrated circuit, and other sectors through salons, technical workshops, and similar activities, injecting new momentum into industrial upgrading and talent clustering in Lin-gang.

In 2023, RT-Thread established its operating system R&D center in Lin-gang. The area's industrial ecosystem offers abundant opportunities for testing and commercialization for the open-source community. In the smart automotive sector, RT-Thread has provided a controllable digital foundation for vehicle control systems, supporting the sector's intelligent upgrading.

To better integrate open-source ecosystems with other industries, Lin-gang is developing a comprehensive support framework. The area will establish an incubator tailored to RT-Thread's needs, offering 10,000 square meters of office space rent-free for up to three years. For financing, Lin-gang is launching regional industrial funds and market-based venture capital funds to provide full-cycle support for high-quality projects.

In addition, innovation conferences will be held to provide open-source developers with opportunities for technical exchange, scenario matching, and resource networking, supporting Lin-gang's development into an international sci-tech innovation center.