EU, Japan pledge to strengthen cooperation on digital ID, trust services

Japan and the European Union (EU) have discussed ways of bolstering their digital cooperation in several areas including the development and implementation of digital identity and trust services.

The two partners reaffirmed their commitment to this objective during their third Digital Partnership Council attended by top level representatives in Tokyo on May 12, per a news release.

Participants during the meeting agreed that with the changing global geopolitical realities, it was important for the two parties to reinforce their digital cooperation as part of efforts to build security and economic resilience.

One of the areas of focus is digital ID and trust services where they agreed to step up efforts towards “achieving interoperability and mutual recognition of academic credentials through digital identity and trust services.”

Japan and the EU have signed an MoU on digital IDs and trust services intended to facilitate a program labelled “Data Free Flow with Trust” which entails sharing experience on aspects such as the EU Digital Identity Wallet and how digital ID can facilitate trade and enable easy access to important public services.

During the third Digital Partnership Council, data governance was also discussed with the two parties agreeing on the need for a joint working group that will facilitate improved data sharing and interoperability.

The discussions also explored collaborative initiatives on other digital transformation engagements like building critical cybersecurity infrastructure, enhancing digital connecting through submarine cable projects, building a safe digital governance platform, as well fostering research for the development of innovative, safe, secure and trustworthy AI systems.

Speaking on the collaboration, the Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy at the European Commission, Henna Virkkunen, said: “Today in Tokyo, we have reinforced the already strong EU-Japan digital partnership. Deepening our work on core technologies to ensure mutual competitiveness is now more important than ever. This strategic partnership holds real economic weight for both the EU and Japan, and I look forward to advancing it.”

Today May 13, the two partners are set to sign a Letter of Intent on the development of quantum technology.

They look forward to the 4^th Digital Partnership Council scheduled for next year in Brussels.

Article Topics

data sharing  |  digital government  |  digital identity  |  EU  |  Europe  |  interoperability  |  Japan