IP, AI, Health Commitments Mere Footnotes In Quarrel Between G6 And Trump?

Leaders at the recent G7 Summit tried to mitigate tensions by taking on some US favourites in their final communiqué like “forced technology transfers,” a topic brought up only recently by the United States at the World Trade Organisation. Forced technology transfers, according to US diplomats, are licensing and administrative rules entertained by China to oblige foreign firms to share technology in exchange for gaining access to the Chinese market. They also had sought to agree on a vision for artificial intelligence, a range of health issues, and foreign cyber interference with elections.

But US President Donald Trump‘s tweeted withdrawal of support nearly turned the content of the final Communiqué of the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Canada, (8-9 June), into a footnote. The G7, a meeting of the Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, according to media commentators is in a state of chaos and seemingly becoming a G6 plus (or minus?) one after Trump‘s high-pitched accusations over the evolving tariff “war”.

The leaders in the communiqué originally had agreed to “work together to enforce existing international rules and develop new rules where needed to foster a truly level playing field, addressing in particular non-market oriented policies and practices, and inadequate protection of intellectual property rights, such as forced technology transfer or cyber-enabled theft.”

Forced technology is also an issue mentioned in the Charlevoix Joint Vision on the Future of Artificial Intelligence, one of the new topics put on the agenda of the Canadian Presidency for an extra declaration.

On AI, the G6 state leaders committed to “support an open and fair market environment including the free flow of information, while respecting applicable frameworks for privacy and data protection for AI innovation by addressing discriminatory trade practices, such as forced technology transfer, unjustified data localization requirements and source code disclosure, and recognizing the need for effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.”

In general, the heads of state also declared a commitment to promote appropriate technical, ethical and technologically neutral approaches and a “human-centric AI” and supportive frameworks for a educating citizens in and about AI. The most important focus topics of the Canadian presidency beside the rather lofty AI goals were additional efforts for gender equality in all areas of society and economy and the better protection of the oceans and the fight against plastics.

A new topic put on the agenda list for the G7 countries is the fight against interventions into elections via the internet. Here the leaders agreed inter alia to “establish a G7 Rapid Response Mechanism to strengthen our coordination to identify and respond to diverse and evolving threats to our democracies, including through sharing information and analysis, and identifying opportunities for coordinated response.”

They also agreed to “engage directly with internet service providers and social media platforms regarding malicious misuse of information technology by foreign actors, with a particular focus on improving transparency regarding the use and seeking to prevent the illegal use of personal data and breaches of privacy.”

Less Attention to Health?

Much less attention was devoted this time to health issues, the relevant graph just looking like a dutiful update to earlier commitments.

“Strong, sustainable health systems that promote access to quality and affordable healthcare” are mentioned, alongside “greater attention to mental health.” The World Health Organization’s vital role is recognised for health emergencies through the Contingency Fund for Emergencies and the World Bank’s Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility.

The G6 minus 1 “recommit to support our 76 partners to strengthen their implementation of the International Health Regulations.” This is just a restatement of a program started at the G7 Summit last year in Elmau, Germany, under the issue of the ebola crisis. The fight against antimicrobial resistance is still on the agenda, while efforts to end tuberculosis and its resistant forms shall be accelerated and the eradication of polio seen through, they said.

The commitments will be put to the test soon, with the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria needing a new round of funding. The G6 affirm their support “for a successful replenishment of the Global Fund in 2019.”

But this came with the minus one-partner US already having made plans to limit its annual contribution by about US$ 425 million. So far, the US is the largest contributor to the Fund with $14.7 billion pledged from 2001-2017.

The leaders meanwhile were not shy about acknowledging that despite recent positive economic development, “too few citizens have benefited from that economic growth.”

 

Image Credits: G7 Flickr