March 18, 2024 Results of the G7 Industry, Technology and Digital Ministerial Meeting

 On March 14 (Thursday) and 15 (Friday), 2024, the G7 Industry, Technology and Digital Ministerial Meeting was held in Italy (Verona and Trento), and Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications HASEGAWA Junji attended from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC). At the meeting, G7 member countries and regions as well as invited countries and related international organizations participated, and various policy issues related to industry, technology and digital fields were discussed. A ministerial declaration and annexes was adopted as the outcome document.

1. Date

 Thursday, March 14 and Friday, March 15, 2024

2. Participating countries, regions, and international organizations

[ G7 member countries and regions ]
Canada, the EU, France, Germany, Italy (presidency), Japan, the UK, the USA
[ Invited countries ]
Brazil, South Korea, Ukraine, the UAE
[ International organizations ]
ITU, OECD, UNDP, UNESCO, United Nations

3. Main outcomes of discussions at the meeting

 The meeting included dialogue with industry representatives, and discussion on six themes (“AI and Emerging Technologies in Industry,” “Secure and Resilient Networks, Supply Chains and Key Inputs,” “Digital Development – Growing Together,” “AI in the Public Sector,” “Progress of Results of the Hiroshima AI Process” and “Digital Government”).
 In the discussion on the ideal way of secure and resilient networks, the Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications HASEGAWA spoke, among others, about the progress of introducing Open RAN in the mobile market, the need for cooperation among related countries to ensure the installation, operation, and maintenance of submerged cables by reliable entities, and the importance of multi-layered networks including non-terrestrial networks such as satellites and HAPS.
 In the discussions about digital development, HASEGAWA also spoke about the need for promoting efforts to accelerate the achievement of SDGs through the development and utilization of generative AI, and stressed the importance of AI models that pay regard to cultural and linguistic diversities and the need for supporting human resource training and development from the viewpoint of ensuring that people around the world, including the Global South, can fully benefit from generative AI technology.
 Furthermore, in the discussion on the progress of outcomes from the Hiroshima AI Process, HASEGAWA praised Italy, this year’s G7 chair, for its efforts to continue promoting the Hiroshima AI Process launched under Japan’s G7 presidency last year, with the aim of promoting safe, secure and trustworthy AI, and called for the necessity of expanding the results of the Hiroshima AI Process to countries, regions, and companies around the world, including the Global South. In recognition of the ongoing efforts, he expressed his hope that countries that support the Hiroshima AI Process will work to increase interoperability of AI governance through international guidelines and codes of conduct.
 In the dialogue session with the industry representatives, including the B7 representatives, many industry members expressed their appreciation for the Hiroshima AI Process led by Japan from the perspective of institutional stability and promotion of innovation. The host country, Italy, expressed its determination to carry the Hiroshima AI Process forward, and each G7 member also made statements highly praising Japan's leadership through the Hiroshima AI Process. In response, HASEGAWA stated that the Hiroshima AI Process would be continuously moved forward, through various means including government-industry collaboration and cooperation.

 After the discussions among the ministers, the G7 Industry, Technology and Digital Ministerial Declaration was adopted as the outcome of the meeting.

4. Outline of bilateral talks, etc.

 After the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration, the public-private multi-stakeholder dialogue event “HIROSHIMA AI PROCESS: THE WAY AHEAD” was held. Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications HASEGAWA who attended the event together with Undersecretary for Technological Innovation and Digital Transition Butti of this year's G7 Presidency, Italy, and representatives from the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada, which will hold the G7 Presidency next year, emphasized the need for opinion hearing from multiple stakeholders to improve the effectiveness of the results of the Hiroshima AI Process.
 In addition, HASEGAWA mentioned the launch of the AI Safety Institute in February this year as an organization to inspect the safety evaluation of AI, and added that international collaboration in this field would also be strengthened through information exchange with related organizations of G7 members including the U.S. and the U.K.
 Making the most of this meeting, HASEGAWA held bilateral talks with the ministers and others listed below, and exchanged opinions on policy issues shared with each counterpart:

• Italy: Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy
• Italy: Alessio Butti, Undersecretary for Technological Innovation and Digital Transition
• France: Marina Ferrari, Secretary of State for Digital Affairs
• The USA: Steve Lang, Acting Assistant Secretary of State

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  The published materials are in Japanese only.