India, Japan to cooperate in cyber security, green ICT

India and Japan have decided to cooperate in the fields of cyber security and green ICT (information and communication technology), this was announced after a meeting of the India-Japan joint working group on ICT in New Delhi today.

At the end of a two-day India-Japan JWG for strengthening cooperation in the field of information and communication technologies in New Delhi, the two countries announced the decision to work on the five areas which are to be implemented as India-Japan joint projects.

These include the Green ICT, under which the two sides will implement the `Green Mobile Base Station' project; cyber security cooperation, which include Japan-India Combat Spam project; cooperative project for detecting symptoms and quick response to cyber attacks; project for utilisation of ICT for disaster management (ICT4DM) in affected areas and a project for ICT application for social and economic programmes, including National ID application and utilisation platform project.
 
India's ministry of communication and information technology (MCIT) and Japan's ministry of internal affairs and communication (MIC) will coordinate the activities for taking these projects forward by involving industrial partners in both the countries. The two sides aim at implementing these joint projects by early 2015.

The two countries also decided to further discuss development of standards in the field of ICT, for future cooperation. Further, India had also offered Japan to manufacture ICT equipment in India by taking advantage of new conducive environment for manufacturing in India.

Inaugurating the two-day session of the JWG on Tuesday, minister for communication and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad had pointed to the need for matching India's capacities in the field of human resources and IT software skills with Japan's strength in technology and manufacturing. 

Detailing the scope for partnership, the minister said the current government in India plans to connect all panchayats with broadband by 2016, as a part of its 'Digital India' programme and also wants to give a big push to electronic manufacturing, adding that India and Japan are expected to be natural partners for technical and industrial cooperation in the years to come.

He invited Japanese companies to set up manufacturing facilities in India as a part of another prime programme of the present government called- 'Make in India'.

In his opening remarks the Japanese vice minister for policy coordination and international affairs, ministry of internal affairs and communication (MIC), Yasuo Sakamoto, leading his country's delegation said, Japanese companies are interested and business projects in the ICT sector needs to be promoted. He said the India-Japan statement made after the meeting of the prime ministers of the two countries during the recent visit of Narendera Modi to Japan had set the platform for the purpose.

The next meeting of the joint working group is to be held in Tokyo next year.