Ministerial and Other Meetings
G7/8 Digital and Technology Ministers

G7 Digital and Technology Track – Annex 1:
Framework for G7 Collaboration on Digital Technical Standards

G7 Digital and Technology Ministers, April 28, 2021
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Building on the 2017 Italian G7 ICT and Industry Ministerial Declaration, the G7 reiterate the need for technical standards development to continue to be underpinned by transparency, openness of process and participation, relevance, and consensus-based decision-making in line with the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Code of Good Practice and the TBT Committee Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards. We have committed to stronger international cooperation within the G7 and with like-minded partners to support industry-led, inclusive multi-stakeholder approaches for the development of digital technical standards in line with our core values. This framework for G7 collaboration sets out specific areas for constructive G7 engagement on digital technical standards. We firmly state our opposition to any government-imposed approaches that fundamentally seek to reshape the digital technical standards ecosystem. To take this framework forward, we will designate G7 points of contact to improve information sharing and facilitate coordination between G7 members and with wider stakeholders.

G7 Framework for Collaboration

We will strengthen our international cooperation and work with stakeholder groups under the following framework:

Share and Coordinate: We will identify shared interests in the development of digital technical standards and will promote national and international best practice for inclusive engagement in digital technical standards setting. Specifically, we will:

FACILITATE multi-stakeholder dialogue on important digital technical standards issues, building on the G7's multi-stakeholder side event – 'Digital Technical Standards, Strengthening the Multi-stakeholder System'.
FACILITATE the sharing of best practices that enable all relevant stakeholders to work together more effectively within the processes and fora used to develop standards.
SUPPORT multi-stakeholder efforts and strategic communications activity to raise awareness of the importance of engaging in technical standards development.

Contribute: At the 2021 G7 digital technical standards multi-stakeholder side event, stakeholders from civil society, industry, academia and Standards Developing Organisations (SDOs) reiterated the view that governments play an important role in supporting standardisation that bolsters open societies and democratic values in specific areas of digital technical standards development.

We will CONTRIBUTE to specific areas of digital technical standards development as part of the multi-stakeholder community where there are significant real-world implications that could affect our citizens, our shared values as open and democratic societies, or our shared economic prosperity. Specific areas of interest for G7 governments to focus on include technical standards for the Internet, telecommunication and emerging digital technologies. Specifically, we will:
- WORK with stakeholders towards more inclusive development and deployment of Internet protocols that contribute to and protect the continuing evolution of an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet, one that is unfragmented, supports freedom, innovation and trust, and empowers people.
- COLLABORATE with stakeholders to track emerging digital technical standards proposals that may have a wider societal impact.
Enable and Empower: We will SUPPORT stakeholders and SDOs to strengthen and uphold integrity in the development of digital technical standards. This includes ensuring that applicable technical standards consider existing internationally recognised digital technology norms and principles, such as: the OECD Principles on Artificial Intelligence; the OECD Principles for Internet Policy Making; the WTO Agreement on TBT Code of Good Practice; and the TBT Committee Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards. These efforts would seek to add value through international alignment. Specifically, we will:

SUPPORT capacity building among civil society and other experts to increase participation in digital technical standards development.
HELP under-represented stakeholders to engage in relevant standards discussions to overcome barriers to entry, for example through including civil society representation in national delegations at key international fora.
SUPPORT liaison and coordination between SDOs to avoid unnecessary duplication and maintain adherence to the WTO Agreement on TBT Code of Good Practice and the TBT Committee Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards.
SUPPORT, where appropriate, existing internationally accepted principles for digital technologies being embedded in the development process for technical standards.

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Source: Official website of the 2021 UK G7 Presidency

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