Joint Statement from the 14th U.S.-Japan Dialogue on Digital Economy

The following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and Japan on the occasion of the 14th meeting of the U.S.-Japan Dialogue on the Digital Economy (DDE).

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The United States and Japan reaffirmed their shared commitment to open, interoperable, reliable, and secure digital connectivity and information and communication technologies to support growth of the digital economy during the 14th meeting of the U.S.-Japan Dialogue on Digital Economy (DDE), renamed from the U.S.-Japan Policy Cooperation Dialogue on the Internet Economy (IED), hosted in hybrid format by Japan on February 6 and 7, 2024.

The dialogue included discussions with private sector representatives from both countries on the promotion of open, interoperable, and secure fifth generation (5G) wireless technologies, networks, and services; public-private partnerships to support the development of the digital economy in third countries; international coordination in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), data protection and privacy, the free flow of data, advancing digital freedom, and cybersecurity capacity building; public-private collaboration to foster public trust and support for responsible stewardship of the Internet and digital connectivity; and use of information and communications technology (ICT) that contributes to green and sustainable growth.  The U.S. and Japanese governments also welcomed a joint statement submitted to them by private sector representatives from Keidanren and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Both countries recognized the importance of promoting the development and deployment of open, resilient, and secure 5G networks in advanced and emerging economies to ensure countries, companies, and citizens can trust that firms providing equipment, software, and services will support the development of the digital economy, while strengthening cybersecurity and protecting privacy, intellectual property rights, and digital freedom.  Both countries reaffirmed the importance of promoting secure and reliable global subsea cable networks and thereby continuing necessary information exchanges regarding important individual cable systems. Both countries recognized the importance of fostering investment for secure and resilient ICT infrastructure. The U.S. and Japanese governments also reaffirmed their shared commitment to an inclusive, open, and transparent system of Internet governance based on multi-stakeholder models. Additionally, the two countries concurred on collaborating in the following areas:

1. Continue cooperation in third countries to develop secure 5G networks and foster enabling environments for innovative approaches such as Open Radio Access Networks (“Open RAN”) and virtual Radio Access Networks (“vRAN”). In addition, they will jointly support Open RAN projects in third countries, including testbed, pilot, or proof-of-concept projects. They highlighted the value of open and interoperable network architectures and telecommunications supplier diversity in fostering and promoting a more diverse, resilient, and secure telecommunications ecosystem. They also recognized the importance of enhancing cooperation on next-generation network (“6G” or “Beyond 5G”) technologies including research, development, and international standards, toward the goal of realizing more secure, open, interoperable, resilient, and energy-efficient networks in the 2030s, which is aligned with the G7 Vision of the future network in the Beyond 5G/6G era endorsed by the Digital and Tech Ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) in April 2023.

2. Seek to further use the Global Digital Connectivity Partnership (GDCP) to discuss potential joint engagement in third countries on digital and ICT initiatives. Both countries reaffirmed their shared commitment to meeting quarterly and in ad-hoc intensive meetings through the GDCP, with involvement of the private sector as appropriate, to address specific topics and build on efforts to promote inclusive Internet connectivity, expand cooperation on secure ICT infrastructure, and advance supplier diversity.

3. Given the increasing importance of international discussions on AI governance and the need to address challenges and opportunities brought by advanced AI systems, both countries committed to cooperating in expanding outreach to partner countries and AI actors to share the Hiroshima AI Process Comprehensive Policy Framework, including the International Code of Conduct for Organizations Developing Advanced AI Systems and the International Guiding Principles for All AI Actors, based on the Work Plan to advance the Hiroshima AI Process. In addition, they will collaboratively broaden support for the International Code of Conduct. Guided by the Hiroshima AI Process, both countries will continue to cooperate to promote interoperability among AI governance frameworks and to foster an open and enabling environment where safe, secure, and trustworthy AI systems are designed, developed, deployed, and used. And both the United States and Japan will promote cooperation between their new AI Safety Institutes to encourage interoperability in AI governance.

4. Continue bilateral and multilateral collaboration, with the members of the Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) Forum, to operationalize the Global CBPR and Privacy Recognition for Processors (PRP) Systems in early 2024, promote membership and participation globally, including through co-hosting the Global CBPR Forum multilateral workshop to be held in May 2024, and work closely on the enhancement of the program requirements for expanding the benefits for governments, certified companies, and consumers. The Global CBPR Forum supports effective data protection and privacy while facilitating interoperability among data protection regimes in support of Data Free Flow with Trust (DFFT).

5. As part of their commitment to operationalize DFFT, both countries will continue to work collaboratively to promote the OECD Declaration on Government Access to Personal Data Held by Private Sector Entities, including within the OECD DFFT Experts Group. This work is intended to shape and build support from other OECD members for the new workstream proposed by the OECD to document how different countries adhere to the seven (7) government access principles, to develop a roadmap for how non-OECD countries can demonstrate adherence with the Declaration, and to recommend facilitating this work under the new OECD DFFT Experts Group, as well as outside the OECD, by bilaterally engaging non-OECD countries to familiarize them with the Declaration and encourage them to demonstrate adherence to its principles.

6. Explore opportunities to collaborate further to advance joint goals at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The United States and Japan are committed to working closely together to enhance the global digital economy policy environment through multilateral and multi-stakeholder engagement in multilateral organizations and bodies, including in the United Nations, ITU, OECD, the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), the Council of Europe’s Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAI), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), G7, Group of Twenty (G20), Internet Governance Forum (IGF), the Quad, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), Global Coalition on Telecommunications (GCOT), and other fora.

7. Continue cooperation to promote an inclusive approach and undertake robust and ongoing consultations with multi-stakeholder communities toward the Global Digital Compact and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Review process.

8. Continue to support and promote an inclusive multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance, as the legacy of the successful IGF meeting held in Kyoto in 2023. Both countries will also work closely together in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) to advance a shared vision of the Internet, including in facilitating the opening of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) and stopping Domain Name System (DNS) abuse.

9. Explore opportunities to organize one (1) or more workshops in calendar year 2024 focused on ICT or digital policy topics with multi-stakeholder participation, in collaboration with each other and third countries (e.g., on 5G/Open RAN, subsea cables, satellites, data centers, AI governance, cybersecurity capacity building for ICT infrastructure, digital freedom, etc.). Both countries also recognized the importance of trust and rule of law as principles contributing to reliable and secure ICT supply chains and more inclusive and equitable digital connectivity.

The U.S. Department of State’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information and Communications Policy Stephan Lang led the U.S. delegation, which included officials representing the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration and International Trade Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Export-Import Bank, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.  The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ (MIC) Director-General of the Global Strategy Bureau TAWARA Yasuo led the Japanese delegation, which included officials representing MIC, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PPC), the Digital Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and Japan ICT Fund (JICT).

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