United States, Australia, India, and Japan released a document on Quad Principles
The Quad countries (the United States, Australia, India, and Japan) released a document on Quad Principles affirming the ways in which technology is designed, developed, governed, and used should be shaped by shared democratic values and respect for universal human rights.
The principles emphasized that the technology should make the lives of member states’ citizens more secure, prosperous, and rewarding, addressing some of the world’s greatest shared challenges, like equitable growth, climate change, energy security, and pandemic diseases. In this regard, the Quad members remain committed to fostering an open, accessible, and secure technology ecosystem, based on mutual trust and confidence, and welcome all nations to support the following principles:
Support universal values
- Partner countries remain committed to the development of critical and emerging technology that yields tangible benefits for society, developed through a multi-stakeholder approach that is adaptive, dynamic, and aligns with universal values, including respect for freedom of expression and privacy.
- The Quad members support approaches to technological design, development, governance, and usage that promote our shared values, including the autonomy, agency, and dignity of individuals. The statement highlighted that the design, development, governance, and use of technology should be an equitable and inclusive process that neither involves nor results in unfair discriminatory action.
- Technology should not be misused or abused for malicious activities such as authoritarian surveillance and oppression, for terrorist purposes, or to disseminate disinformation.
Committed to build trust, integrity, and resilience
According to the official release, Quad members acknowledge that technology ecosystems should be built upon trust, integrity, and resilience foster innovation, and highlighted the need to support openness and interoperability to enable collaboration and to welcome innovators who are both diverse in their gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as in the size, structure, and age of their organizations.
Quad members expect technology suppliers, vendors, and distributors to produce and maintain secure systems, and to be trustworthy, transparent, and accountable in their practices, while technology developers should build in safety and security-by-design approaches so that robust safety and security practices are a part of the technology development process. The statement highlighted that Illicit transfer or theft of technology is a common challenge that undermines the very foundation of global technological development and should be addressed.
The Quad support resilient, diverse, and secure technology supply chains – for hardware, software, and services – are vital to shared national interests of the member states. Close cooperation on supply chains with allies and partners who share combined values of the Quad members will enhance our security and prosperity, and strengthen allies’ capacity to respond to international disasters and emergencies. The members also encouraged healthy competition and international collaboration to advance the frontier of science and technology.
A fair and open marketplace is a cornerstone of innovation and inclusive prosperity
The Quad principles suggested that free and fair market competition in which the best technical solutions succeed, including with the help of transparently-awarded state incentives, would be prioritized, and highlighted the following points:
- The development of competitive technology ecosystems that welcome new market entrants, including start-ups, and enhance innovation, resilience, and sustainability would be encouraged.
- The importance of industry-led, consensus-based multi-stakeholder approaches to international standards development that foster interoperability, compatibility, and inclusiveness would be affirmed.
- The Quad would remain committed to reducing barriers to data and knowledge sharing for research projects and greater innovation, while protecting research security.
- The allies would also intensify efforts to facilitate the exchange of researchers and movement of highly skilled personnel to enhance science and technology collaboration.
- Remain committed to developing shared research and development agendas, to include joint projects and joint capacity building where possible, that align with foundational scientific principles, further our common values, and promote workforce diversity and education.
“Together, we will continue to keep pace with changes in the global economy and innovation processes by monitoring future trends and harnessing the opportunities to advance technologies to address many of our shared objectives: security and resilience, sustainability, economic inclusion, and health and wellbeing”, stated the White House.
The White House also highlighted the commitments to foster technology development that accelerates economic progress and serves the needs of all of citizens, and welcomed all nations to join the Quad members in pursuit of shared vision for technologies, guided by these principles.
Source: White House Briefing Room
