Vice-President Ansip at G7 ICT ministerial meeting in Japan to discuss free flow of data, digital innovation and international cooperation

EU News 148/2016

28 April 2016

On 29 and 30 April, Vice-President Ansip, in charge of the Digital Single Market, will be in Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan, to participate in a meeting with ministers responsible for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States (G7 countries). It will help prepare the G7 summit that will take place in Japan on 26 and 27 May and in which President Juncker will participate.

Ahead of his visit, Vice-President Ansip said: "I welcome the fact that, after 20 years, digital issues are back on the G7 agenda. Free flow of data underpins the digital economy, and how to achieve it globally while ensuring trust and privacy will be part of the discussions in Takamatsu. We have constructive discussions with our Japanese partners. Our aim is to facilitate data transfers between the EU and Japan while guaranteeing a high level of data protection which would be beneficial for both our economies". G7 ICT ministers are expected to adopt a joint declaration and a long-term vision document on the digital economy on 30 April.

On 29 April, Vice-President Ansip will open a G7 ICT multi-stakeholders' conference gathering notably representatives from academia and industry. He will explain how Europe's future Digital Single Market will help foster international cooperation in a globalised economy: "As part of our strategy to create a Digital Single Market in Europe, we have recently adopted a series of measures to digitise European industry. In all the areas where we need fast standardisation – 5G, cloud computing, internet of things, data technologies and cybersecurity – we need to cooperate and this will be high on the G7 ministerial agenda".

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