Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will establish a research center that promotes the free flow of data across borders, aiming to counter China's restrictions by giving businesses the ability to analyze markets in a wide area.
Plans call for a digital innovation center to begin operations in Jakarta during late August, formed by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), an international think tank in which Japan invests. This initiative was first announced in May by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Future of Asia forum organized by Nikkei in Tokyo.
For businesses, information such as customer purchase histories, clinical trials for prospective new drugs and the status of production lines at factories is essential as they develop products and devise marketing strategies. But nations have differing regulations governing how collected data can be transmitted overseas, and these differences can impede operations for multinational companies.
The new digital innovation center will work with startups and the business community in Southeast Asia -- a region where smartphone payments have become popular -- to research and develop ways to make cross-border data flows smoother. For example, trials may be conducted in which multiple companies share data on materials procurement for an entire supply chain, from parts to the finished product.
Managing supply chain data at headquarters lets multinational companies deal with contingencies more easily. Should a disaster strike an area where many suppliers are concentrated, alternative sources need to be secured. Businesses also can get a better picture of data such as greenhouse gas emissions for each process or whether the rights of workers are protected.
The center likely will study technologies allowing data that includes business secrets or customers' personal information to be analyzed or used for machine learning while remaining encrypted. At present, such data needs to be decrypted before being analyzed, which runs afoul of regulations in several countries.
China has prioritized keeping data within its borders, restricting foreign companies operating in China from taking data outside the country. Personal information and data related to national security and the economy cannot be moved abroad without permission from authorities.
China's stance has pushed Japan to work more closely with ASEAN in this field. Such regulations could stifle economic growth should they become standard in the Indo-Pacific region.
The digital innovation center will cooperate with another planned international entity, one expected to be created under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to tackle topics such as creating a framework for ascertaining data regulations in each country. The Group of Seven nations agreed in May to create that entity, looking to facilitate data flows.
But not even the G7 is in full agreement over data flows.
Europe traditionally has emphasized protecting personal information. When G7 digital and technology ministers met in April ahead of the Hiroshima summit, some European nations initially had objections related to the issues that the new entity would handle. Though the parties reached an agreement, the objections illustrate the difficulties in creating a common stance.
Source: Nikkei Asian Review
Share:
<p>Time: 2024 By: Ministry of Industry and Trade</p>
