February 27, 2024 Results of the 14th Japan-U.S. Dialogue on the Digital Economy

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) and the U.S. Department of State held the 14th Japan-U.S. Dialogue on the Digital Economy in Tokyo on Tuesday, February 6, and Wednesday, February 7, 2024. The dialogue was conducted in two segments: a public-private sector session with industry participation and a government-to-government session, discussing a broad array of topics related to the digital economy.

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

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

Summary
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. Japanese and the U.S. governments also welcomed a joint statement submitted to them by private sector representatives from Keidanren, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
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 submarine 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. Japanese and the U.S. 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) 5G and Beyond 5G/6G
Both countries will 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) Global Digital Connectivity Partnership (GDCP)
Both countries will seek further to 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 the 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) AI Governance
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. Both the United States and Japan will promote cooperation between their new AI Safety Institutes to encourage interoperability in AI governance.

(4) Cross Border Privacy Rule (CBPR)
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) Cooperation on Government Access
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) Cooperation in the International Arena
Both countries will 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 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) Cooperation in the United Nations
Both countries will 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) Internet Governance
Both countries will 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 facilitating the opening of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) and stopping Domain Name System (DNS) abuse.

(9) Future Japan-U.S. Cooperation
Both countries will explore opportunities to organize one (1) or more workshops in the 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 the rule of law as principles contributing to reliable and secure ICT supply chains and more inclusive and equitable digital connectivity.

(Reference) Attendees at the 14th meeting
Japanese side: Led by TAWARA Yasuo, Director-General of the Global Strategy Bureau at MIC, the delegation included MIC officials, representatives from the Personal Information Protection Commission, the Digital Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and the Fund Corporation for the Overseas Development of Japan’s ICT and Postal Services, among others.
U.S. side: Led by Stephan LANG, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cyberspace and Digital Policy at the State Department (responsible for information and communications policy), the delegation included officials from the State Department, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the Department of Commerce, the International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Defense, the Export-Import Bank, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, among others.

2. Next Meeting

The next meeting is expected to be held by the end of fiscal 2024.

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  The published materials are in Japanese only.

[Reference] Overview of the Japan-U.S. Dialogue on the Digital Economy
The Japan-U.S. Dialogue on the Digital Economy (DDE) is a policy dialogue conducted regularly between the Japanese government and the U.S. government, centered around MIC and the U.S. Department of State, focusing on the entirety of policies related to the economic aspects of digital technology. In the joint statement from the 13th Japan-U.S. Policy Cooperation Dialogue on the Internet Economy (IED), announced on March 16, 2023, it was agreed to rename it to the Japan-U.S. Dialogue on the Digital Economy (DDE), and the name has been changed starting from the 14th meeting. Additionally, this dialogue is positioned as part of the framework to promote the Japan-U.S. Global Digital Connectivity Partnership, which was announced during the Japan-U.S. Summit on April 16, 2021, and was launched in May of the same year.