EU-Japan Information Policy Working Group (IPWG)
At the Second EU-Japan Industrial Policy and Industrial Cooperation Dialogue, held in Tokyo on 14 June 1994, the European Commission and MITI agreed to set up an Information Policy Working Group (IPWG) as a forum for in-depth consultations on the development of the information society. Mr. S. Micossi, Director-General responsible for industry at the Commission, and Mr. Y. Sakamoto, MITI Vice-Minister for International Affairs, have now issued a joint statement on the IPWG. The main points of the statement are summarized below. The IPWG has contributed to the exchange of information and views on policies, technologies and applications related to the development of the information society. In the first three meetings, a number of topics were discussed such as policies to develop the information society, research and development, competition policy, human resources, intellectual property rights, interoperability and standardization, data privacy and security, G7 pilot projects and information society applications, and cooperation with third countries. These meetings provided an effective support to the preparation of the Brussels G7 Conference on the information society and the launching of common pilot projects to accelerate the creation of the information society. Both sides have agreed to continue the work of the IPWG with the aim of achieving concrete results leading towards cooperation and the further exchange of information on the information society in Europe, in Japan and in third countries. The IPWG will be held twice a year at Director level, alternately in Tokyo and Brussels. Expert level meetings will take place on specific subjects which include: - Interoperability; - Intellectual property rights; - Security/privacy; - Cooperation in research and development.
Countries
Japan