During the visit of UK's new Foreign Secretary David Lammy, India and the UK launched the UK-India Technology Security Initiative (TSI) to spearheaded by the National Security Advisors of both countries. The Technology Security Initiative aims to expand collaboration between India and UK on many critical and emerging technologies.
About Technology Security Initiative
- Increasing role of technology in national security and economic development.
- Reinforces already existing collaborative efforts in various technologies, broaden mandates of existing mechanisms and establishing new mechanisms of cooperation in critical & emerging technologies.
- Collaboration Global Tech Governance: As part of Strategic Tech Policy Dialogue, UK and India will hold a dialogue on global tech governance to coordinate positions on digital technical standards and support multi-stakeholder model of internet governance.
- Coordination:
- Technology Security Initiative will be coordinated by National Security Advisors (NSAs) of both countries through existing and new dialogues.NSAs will set priority areas and identify interdependencies for cooperation on critical and emerging tech that will lead to building of meaningful technology value chain partnerships between India and UK.Progress under the mission will be reviewed on a half-yearly basis at the Deputy National Security Advisors level.
- A Bilateral mechanism will be established to be led by India's Ministry of External Affairs and UK Government for promotion of trade in critical and emerging technologies, resolution of relevant licensing and regulatory issues.
Technological Domains for cooperation under Technology Security Initiative
- Telecom:
- UK and India will build a new and enhanced Future Telecom Partnership.
- Expanding the mandate of Strategic Tech Dialogue between India's Department of Telecommunication and UK's Department of Science, Innovation & Technology, which will take forward this pillar.
- Specific focus areas
- Collaborate on joint research on future telecoms, focused on Open RAN systems, testbed linkups, telecom security, spectrum innovation, software and systems architecture
- Partnership between UK's SONIC Labs (a joint program between Digital Catapult and Ofcom), India's C-DOT and Telecom's Startup Mission under Department of Telecommunication of India.
- Collaboration in global design and development of next generation telecom technologies like 6G technology.
- Collaboration on telecom diversification, telecom security, telecom standards, telecom equipment and use of spectrum.
- Collaboration between UK and Indian telecom companies for simulating commercial opportunities in existing networks and integration of advanced technologies and practices in future telecom infrastructure.
- Collaboration between startup ecosystem of India & UK.
- Launching a joint UK-India research program on Future Telecom with support from UKRI, International Science Partnership Fund, India’s Department of Telecom and Department of Science & Technology.
- Critical Minerals:
- India & UK will expand critical minerals collaboration on critical mineral strategies to improve supply chain resilience, R&D and technological partnerships along the complete critical minerals value chain (including exploration, processing and manufacturing) and sharing best practices on ESG standards.
- To be overseen by India’s Ministry of Mines and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
- Specific focus areas:
- Develop a roadmap for cooperation and establishment of UK-India Critical Minerals community of academics, innovators and industry.
- An Observatory to be set up led by Cambridge University, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad & IIT Bombay to provide a mechanism for storing data on critical minerals supply chains and flows.
- Launch of innovation pilots in partnership with UK's Centre for Process Innovation.
- Develop economically feasible and environmentally sustainable extraction technologies for identified critical minerals.
- Develop capacity building programs in critical mineral processing, data management and mining finance.
- Establish collaboration between leading research institutes on extracting critical minerals from end of life waste stream products through recycling.
- Launching of Critical Mineral Recycling Centre in India which will also focus on advanced military waste recycling.
- Collaboration with British Geological Survey (BGS), Geological Survey of India (GIS) and IREL (India) Limited on strategies, workflows and expertise for 3D geological modelling, enhance Rare Earth Elements (REE) exploration methods by incorporating geophysical characterization, identification and assessment of potential REE deposits.
- Semiconductors:
- UK and India will pursue a broad semiconductor partnership aiming to leverage each other's strengths and incentives, explore mutually beneficial R&D focused on supply chain resilience collaboration, skills exchange and hardware security.
- Expanding the mandate of Strategic Tech Dialogue between India's MEITY and UK's Department of Science, Innovation & Technology, which will take forward this pillar.
- Specific focus areas:
- Facilitating academic & industrial R&D collaboration in chip design and IP, compound semiconductors, advanced packaging and innovative systems like strategically important applications like powering net zero, advanced telecommunications, closer relationships between semiconductor firms in manufacturing and product development.
- Sharing best practices and knowledge exchange on workforce development with right technical skills and expertise.
- Facilitating trade missions between UK and Indian semiconductor companies to boost trade and investment flows.
- Promoting integration of supply chains for manufacturing and designing semiconductor chips and wafers
- Strengthening resilience of semiconductor supply chains through expert consultations for addressing challenges of raw materials, components, design and devices.
- Artificial Intelligence
- Both countries will towards safe, responsible, human-centric and trust-worthy AI aiming to promote global good and strengthen interoperability between their AI governance frameworks.
- The existing mandate of Strategic Tech Dialogue between India's MEITY and UK's Department of Science, Innovation and Technology will expanded to take this pillar forward.
- Specific focus areas:
- Work together in forums such as G20, GPAI & UN. UK's committed to ensure that India's 2024 GPAI Chairmanship delivers successful outcomes.
- Establishing a mechanism for collaboration and policy exchange on applications of AI.
- Facilitate trade missions between UK and Indian industry on developing critical technologies with enterprise applications.
- Develop knowledge and skills needed to detect, mitigate and challenge bias in AI algorithms through joint bias detection challenges, platform to co-develop and test innovative solutions for identifying and mitigating bias in AI models and co-hosting a conference on AI bias.
- Creation of a joint Centre for Responsible AI composed on British and Indian experts based on recommendations of IIT Madras, University of Southampton and University of Oxford.
- Knowledge sharing in AI including machine learning models, multi-domain applications and data governance principles.
- Cooperation between AI centres like the Alan Turing Institute and Indian Institutions.
- Commission of a group of experts to prepare a report on specific areas for targeted collaboration for further development of AI and its applications across sectors.
- Quantum:
- High level dialogue between the two countries for understanding each other's national quantum strategies.
- This pillar will be taken up by India's Department of Science & Technology and UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
- Specific focus areas:
- Joint hackathons in quantum algorithms and solutions for automotive, life sciences, chemicals and greenhouse gas domains.
- Entrepreneurship training for translating quantum capabilities into business applications.
- Academic/industry exchanges on skill development led by UK's Imperial College London/Orca, India's C-DOT & Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC).
- Biotechnology & Health Tech:
- Both countries will launch a high level partnership on engineering biology for sharing knowledge to help facilitate research advances.
- This pillar will be taken forward by India's Department of Biotechnology and UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
- Specific focus areas:
- Strengthen biotechnology collaboration in genomics, genomic prediction and precision medicine, cell and gene therapy, biotherapeutics (including bio-manufacturing), smart bio-sensors and bio-electronics, biomaterials and bio-fabrication in line with ethical and legal frameworks and requirements of both countries.
- Partnerships between research institutions, co-developing and evaluating affordable healthcare like low-cost diagnostics for early detection of important diseases, novel preventive and therapeutic interventions.Share expertise and best practices on responsible innovations and standards in biotechnology and bioinformatics.
- Collaboration on Femtech between India's Department of Biotechnology and UK's Centre for Process Innovation on Biotechnology and UK's National Institute for Health and Care Research.
- Advanced Materials
- Establish a high-level dialogue on advanced materials to identify specific R&D collaboration on materials/composites and collaboration on research, responsible innovation and standards in Advanced Materials.
- This pillar will be taken up by India's Department of Science & Technology and UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
- Specific focus areas:
- Enhance development of technologies for materials/composites focused on bringing up lower TRL (Technology Readiness Level) technologies to higher TRL and CRL (Commercial Readiness Level).
- Collaboration on specific types of materials such as novel alloys and powders.UK-India Research & Innovation partnership on industrial sustainability, including power electronics, machines and drives; advanced materials for extreme environments; sustainable materials and manufacturing for transforming foundation industries like glass, paper, cement, ceramics, chemicals and metals.
- Collaboration between Manchester University's National Graphene Institute, Cambridge University's Graphene Centre and IISc Bengaluru's Centre for Nanoscience & Engineering on advanced 2-Dimensional and atomically thin materials and nanotechnology. This will include joint research ventures, facilitating student and start up exchanges, and opening access to respective world leading laboratories and prototyping facilities.
- Joint steps towards qualification and certification of advanced materials.