- Under the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), India and the United States have established a roadmap for increased collaboration in critical and emerging technology.
- Its development was recently discussed during NSA Ajit Doval’s and his American counterpart Jake Sullivan’s second track 1.5 talk on iCET.
Recognising iCET
- The iCET provides a platform for India-US collaboration in important and emerging technology sectors.
- It was launched in January 2023 with the goal of strengthening the strategic alliance and driving technological and defence collaboration between the two countries.
- The effort focuses on the shared democratic principles and respect for universal human rights that should guide technology development, governance, and use.
Initiative’s Focus Areas
- The iCET programme focuses on several critical areas to enhance collaboration and deepen India-US partnership. These are some examples:
- Establishing a research agency cooperation to foster collaboration in areas such as artificial intelligence.
- Defence Industrial Cooperation: Creating a new roadmap for defence industrial cooperation to expedite technology cooperation for joint development and production.
- AI Common Standards: Creating artificial intelligence common standards to assure compatibility and interoperability.
- Semiconductor Ecosystem: Aiding in the establishment of a semiconductor ecosystem in order to strengthen the supply chain and improve manufacturing capabilities.
- Human Spaceflight collaboration: Strengthening human spaceflight collaboration to advance space exploration activities.
- Advancing 5G and 6G: Working together to develop and implement 5G and 6G technologies.
- OpenRAN Network Technology: Promoting OpenRAN network technology adoption in India for a more open and secure telecoms infrastructure.
So far, progress has been made
- Under the iCET programme, India and the United States have made tremendous progress in a variety of areas of partnership. The following are significant developments:
- Quantum Coordination Mechanism: The Quantum Coordination Mechanism is used to enhance collaboration in quantum technologies.
- Telecommunication Public-Private Dialogue (PDD): The launch of a PDD focused on collaboration in OpenRAN, 5G, and 6G technologies.
- AI and Space collaboration: Significant discussions between India and the United States on artificial intelligence and space collaboration.
- Semiconductor Supply Chain: A Memorandum of Understanding was signed to develop a semiconductor supply chain, setting the path for future collaboration in this crucial area.
- Defence Cooperation: Defence cooperation advances, notably the near-completion of a massive jet engine transaction and the creation of the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X).
- Establishing a key Trade Dialogue to overcome regulatory hurdles and revise export control standards for key technology and trade collaborations.
Prospects for the Future
- The India-US iCET programme has a lot of potential for improving collaboration in essential and emerging technologies.
- By coordinating efforts in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors, and telecommunications, India and the United States hope to establish trustworthy technical alliances and enhance strategic collaboration.
- Continued progress in this programme will pave the door for new solutions, economic growth, and collaboration in important technical fields for both countries.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/explained-what-is-the-india-us-initiative-on-future-tech/article66980841.ece#:~:text=What%20is%20iCET%3F,computing%2C%20semiconductors%20and%20wireless%20telecommunication.