The United States and India plan to hold the US-India Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Working Group in India later this year.
This will be the second such workshop between the two countries. The first workshop was held in Washington, DC, on January 14-15, the Ministry of Communications and IT said on Saturday.
“The participants noted that the ICT Working Group aims to strengthen collaboration between the governments and private sector of the two countries in the field of ICT,” it said.
The participants also agreed to continue to explore the opportunities for collaboration on implementing India’s ‘Digital India’ initiative, with the goal of enhancing digital infrastructure, deploying e-Governance and e-services, and expanding the diffusion and use of ICT as a tool to expand economic opportunity, boost productivity, create jobs and empower citizens, it said.
“Broad agreement was reached on the importance of policies that promote innovation in the ICT sector, facilitate the flow of data across borders, and foster the global and open nature of the Internet as a platform for economic growth,” the Ministry said.
They also discussed issues relating to the international mobility of Indian skilled professionals.
The joint government-and-industry discussions included panels on promoting manufacturing and investment, IT and telecom policy developments, Internet governance, mobility of skilled professionals and other issues related to trade, investment and the ease of doing business.
The US-India ICT Working Group was hosted by the US Department of State and included representatives from the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Office of the US Trade Representative, the US Trade and Development Agency and the US Department of Homeland Security.
The Indian delegation included officials from the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, the Department of Telecom, and the Embassy of India to the United States.