Clark Vasey’s Post

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Chairman of the UK Japan Tech Forum and Head of Corporate Affairs at Fujitsu UK

Really pleased to chair the UK Japan Tech Forum this week bringing together tech companies from across the UK and Japan with both Governments to discuss priorities for UK Japan tech collaboration. The past 4 years have seen a welcome transformation in the relationship. From the Digital Chapter of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in 2020 and the Digital Partnership in 2022 to the level of ambition within the Hiroshima Accord last year it is tech which is central to the common ground between the UK and Japan. The leadership of techUK and JEITA in bringing together the vibrant sectors of both countries has undoubtedly strengthened cooperation . The contributions of the Forum can be seen throughout these high-level agreements. The message of the tech sector is we want to see the UK and Japan go further. The Accord creates the potential for a unique bi-lateral tech relationship. What matters now is translating this into tangible outcomes which contribute to growth, jobs and innovation. The election of a new UK Government is an opportunity to go further in tech collaboration. It was welcome to see reports that PM Kishida and PM Starmer reaffirmed their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, on-going defence collaboration and cooperation in key technologies such as AI. The focus of this week’s Forum was how Osaka 2025 can be the moment at which to unlock the ambition created by the Accord. As we saw with the 2023 G7 the World Expo will bring a clear focus on Japan which we can use to demonstrate the benefits of both countries working together in tech.  Both Governments together with the tech sector should develop a clear roadmap from the Hiroshima Accord to Osaka 2025. In support of this the UK Japan Tech Forum will be publishing a Whitepaper on how industry believes we can achieve this. It was great to get a clear view on progress in implementing the Hiroshima Accord from both sides with contributions from Takayuki Sako from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Adam Jackson from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. It was good to hear about work on joint research initiatives, AI safety, the relationship between Japan’s Digital Agency and GDS and work on semiconductors. For the second part of this Hiroshima to Osaka Roadmap it was fantastic to get a view on the role tech will play in Osaka 2025 from Masafumi Sugano of METI and Jack Jones of the Department for Business and Trade.  Osaka 2025 will be a key focus of the UK Japan Tech Forum going into next year so it was good to establish how the event can enable greater bi-lateral relations. To emphasise this potential, it was vital to demonstrate the support from industry so it was important to see this message echoed by Wada Akihiro from Keidanren, Miho Naganuma from NEC Corporation and Huw Thomas of Intralink . For collaboration between the two countries to reach its maximum potential it needs to be a genuine partnership with industry.

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