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The UK-India Technology Security Initiative will focus on several areas, including telecom, AI and quantum computing.
India and the UK have launched the UK-India Technology Security Initiative in a bid to enhance the security of existing and emerging technologies.
As part of this initiative, the two countries will collaborate on several technologies, including telecom, critical minerals, AI, quantum, health/biotech, advanced materials and semiconductors.
The Technology Security Initiative will be coordinated by the national security advisors (NSAs) of both countries, and progress will be reviewed half-yearly.
"This will mean real action together on the challenges of the future from AI to critical minerals," said David Lammy, the UK's Foreign Secretary, in a press note. "Together we can unlock mutual growth, boost innovation, jobs and investment."
"From telecoms and semiconductors to biotechnology and AI, these generation-defining technologies will unlock countless new opportunities and innovation, so we can deliver for working people here and in India as we deepen our long-standing partnership,” said Peter Kyle, the UK's Secretary of State for Science.
Collaboration for open RAN, 6G
In the telecom domain, the UK and India will "collaborate on joint research on future telecoms, focused on open RAN systems, testbed linkups, telecoms security, spectrum innovation, software and systems architecture."
The two countries will also launch a partnership between the UK's SONIC Labs and India's Center for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) Telecoms Startup Mission.
"This will aim to boost security, resilience and performance of telecom networks and development of totally disaggregated open RAN, including through collaboration on approaches to testing and development of products and solutions," says the factsheet.
In addition, India and the UK will collaborate in the global design and development of next-generation telecom technologies and promote 6G technology engagement, such as between the UK Telecoms Innovation Network (UKTIN), the University of York, the University College London, the University of Surrey, and India’s C-DoT, Telecommunication Engineering Center (TEC), and 6G testbeds for 6G R&D initiatives.
The two countries will "encourage pilot projects by Indian and UK companies in each other's 4G/5G/6G stack and enterprise connectivity, connected devices, edge computing and adoption of green and sustainable telecommunications."
The UK and India will also launch a joint research program on future telecoms this year with support from UK Research and Innovation, the International Science Participation Fund and India's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Department of Science and Technology. Both the countries will work to develop a mechanism to ensure collaboration between their startup ecosystems.
Earlier this year, India also collaborated with the US on open RAN and 6G.
Semiconductor supply-chain resilience
In the semiconductors segment, the UK and India will work to "leverage the countries' individual strength and incentives; and explore mutually beneficial R&D focused on strategic issues such as supply chain resilience collaboration, skills exchange, and hardware security." To this end, the two countries will facilitate academic and industrial R&D collaborations, share best practices and facilitate trade missions.
More importantly, the two countries will work towards improving bilateral collaboration and the integration of supply chains for manufacturing and designing semiconductor chips, promoting business ventures for manufacturing and designing products in the semiconductor value chain by Indian companies in partnership with UK companies.
Artificial Intelligence and quantum
The UK and India will also facilitate trade missions, encourage knowledge sharing and promote partnerships between their research organizations to better address global challenges. They will also work together closely through multilateral groups like the Group of Twenty (G20), Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) and United Nations (UN).
They have said they aim to "build on the work being completed by IIT Madras, IISc Bangalore, University of Southampton and the University of Oxford to provide specific outcome-orientated recommendations, which will provide valuable building blocks for the creation of a joint Centre for Responsible AI composed of British and Indian experts in academia and industry."
In the newly emerging area of quantum, the UK and India have indicated they "will respond to the rapidly changing technological landscape by establishing a high-level dialogue to gain an in depth understanding of our national quantum strategies, to shape the contours of possible future research and industry and collaboration opportunities between our two countries."
The countries plan to support joint hackathons to develop quantum algorithms and solutions for different industry verticals and also conduct entrepreneurship training.
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