The Quad Leaders’ Summit is a critical forum for cooperation among like-minded democracies in the Indo-Pacific region.
Synopsis
The Quad Leaders’ Summit Fact Sheet outlines the commitments made by the leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States at their meeting on May 20, 2023. The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to working together to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region that is underpinned by the rule of law, democratic values, and respect for human rights. They also discussed a range of issues of mutual interest, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and economic cooperation.
Hiroshima, 20 May 2023: President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India met in Hiroshima on May 20, 2023 for the fifth convening of the Quad Leaders’ Summit.
The Quad is committed to supporting the region’s development, stability, and prosperity to benefit the people of the Indo-Pacific. The leaders’ ambitious efforts include major initiatives on infrastructure, maritime security, public-private partnership, climate, health, critical and emerging technologies, and space.
1. INFRASTRUCTURE
The Quad leaders are committed to delivering results for the region. Infrastructure – from roads to electricity to internet connectivity – is key to these efforts to meet the needs of the people in the region. The leaders welcome the launch of three major infrastructure initiatives to provide training, capacity, and resources to improve ongoing and future infrastructure projects.
Quad Infrastructure Fellowship
The program will provide at least 1,800 scholarships, work exchanges, and other executive programs to government officials on best practices surrounding the design, delivery, and management of high-standard infrastructure projects.
The U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Law Development Program has partnered with Georgetown University Law Center to develop a 3-week executive legal certificate program designed for government attorneys drafting and negotiating complex infrastructure programs.
These fellowships will improve capacity and deepen professional networks across the region to design, manage, and attract investment in infrastructure projects.
(Read More: What Is The Quad Infrastructure Fellowship: Purpose, Eligibility Criteria, And Benefits Explained)
Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience
Undersea cables are a critical component of communications infrastructure and serve as the foundation for internet connectivity. The Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience will bring together public and private sector actors to address gaps in the infrastructure and coordinate on future builds.
Under this partnership, Australia will establish a new Indo-Pacific Cable Connectivity and Resilience Program to share best practice and provide technical assistance to Indo-Pacific governments.
The United States is providing technical assistance and capacity building on the security of undersea cable systems through its $5 million CABLES program.
This partnership will improve access to develop trusted and secure cable systems and establish better internet connectivity and resiliency in the Indo-Pacific.
2. INVESTMENT
The Quad leaders are deeply committed to a prosperous Indo-Pacific which enhances the lives of its citizens. Fostering investment will aid economic development in the region now and for the future.
The QUIN, a network of investors and executives across Quad countries that seeks to foster co-investment in critical technologies, was officially launched today. The Quad welcomes [LINK: https://quadinvestorsnetwork.org/blog/the-quad-investors-network-launches-with-advisory-board-expert-groups] the QUIN and its focus on strategic partnerships and investments to increase resilient supply chains for critical and emerging technologies by Quad nations.
The QUIN will facilitate access to capital and facilitate technology partnerships through the establishment of an Advisory Board of business leaders and expert working groups to advance the prosperity and security of the Indo-Pacific Region. (Read More: Quad Investors Network: Introduction, Evolution, Goals And Benefits)
Export Credit Agencies MOC
Quad countries seek to establish a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between the export credit agencies of the Quad governments aims to strengthen collaboration for the promotion of trade, financing of trade-enabling projects, economic development, and knowledge-sharing with respect to the export of goods and services.
The MOC acknowledges the importance of the economic development of the Indo-Pacific region and of increasing business opportunities, particularly in the areas of emerging and critical technologies, digital connectivity, social development including gender equality and equity, clean energy power generation and distribution, and critical minerals.
3. CRITICAL AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY
As technology evolves, the Quad is committed to ensuring that it is leading the innovations of the future and that the benefits of new and emerging technologies are shared throughout the region.
Commercial Open RAN Deployment in Palau
The Quad will partner with the Government of Palau and the Palau National Communications Corporation (PNCC) to design, implement, and operationalize the deployment of Open RAN capabilities.
This initiative will modernize Palau’s national mobile network, establish an Open RAN deployment in partnership with local stakeholders, and support its sustainable operation.
The United States Trade and Development Agency will fund a technical assistance grant to scope the size and scale of the project, the Australian Government will support the project and Quad partners may provide further support.
This Open RAN deployment will advance more secure, trusted, resilient, adaptable, and cost-effective connectivity in Palau while maintaining service for users. This deployment will strengthen Palau’s status as a regional leader in ICT and digital connectivity, with this being the first deployment of the technology planned in the region.
The Quad welcomed a new in-depth report [LINK: https://www.pmc.gov.au/resources/open-ran-security-report] outlining cybersecurity considerations associated with using Open RAN as an approach to developing network architecture.
The report demonstrates that Open RAN offers important cybersecurity advantages, that risks sometimes attributed to Open RAN are common to traditional RAN deployments as well, and that these risks can be mitigated and managed through the recommendations presented in the report.
The report will inform Quad members’ domestic and shared approaches to Open RAN security priorities and will also serve as a global resource to support adoption of open, interoperable, and trusted network architectures.
(Full Detail: What Is Open RAN? – India CSR)
Advancing Innovation to Empower Nextgen Agriculture (AI-ENGAGE)
Through AI-ENGAGE, Quad science agencies from the United States, Australia, India, and Japan are identifying joint funding opportunities to encourage collaborative research between Quad partners on how to leverage the latest science and technology advances to benefit farmers.
Quad research collaboration will leverage joint funding, expertise, infrastructure and other resources to deliver scientific advances to increase crop yield and resilience.
By collaborating on cutting-edge research and innovations in areas such as AI, robotics, communications, and sensing, and disseminating research findings, AI-ENGAGE can transform agricultural approaches to empower farmers throughout the Indo-Pacific region and the world.
(Full Read: What Is AI-ENGAGE – Advancing Innovation To Empower Nextgen Agriculture: Evolution, Purpose Explained)
Quad Technology Business and Investment Forum
The Quad successfully launched the inaugural [LINK: Quad Technology Business and Investment Forum Outcomes (amazonaws.com)] Quad Technology Business and Investment Forum in Sydney, Australia in December 2022.
The forum laid the foundation for enhanced private-public collaboration across our governments, industry, investors, academia, and civil society on critical and emerging technologies.
The United States will host the next Quad Technology Business and Investment Forum in Fall of 2023.
4. MARITIME
The Indo-Pacific region comprises 65 percent of the world’s oceans and countries throughout the region depend on the free movement of goods and people for their livelihoods. The Quad has made significant steps in enhancing maritime domain awareness.
Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA)
Launched at the Tokyo Summit on May 24, 2022, IPMDA is now bringing cutting-edge satellite-based radio frequency (RF) data to partners around the region, enhancing their maritime domain awareness, and equipping them to better monitor their waters.
Quad partners are supporting three pilot programs across the region in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Indian Ocean Region – and discussions are underway to provide this enhanced capability to additional partners in the coming months.
Through greater transparency, IPMDA is supporting our regional partners in their efforts to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific by improving their ability to: counter illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; respond to climate change and natural disasters; and enforce the law near their shores.
5. EDUCATION
The Quad is a partnership not only among governments, but among our people – and none more so than the next generation. The Quad is committed to fostering future STEM innovators to build the foundations of tomorrow’s successes today.
Quad leaders are proud to announce that the first class of diverse, dynamic, and inspiring Quad fellows will begin their studies in the United States in August 2023.
Announced on September 24, 2021, the Quad Fellowship sponsors 100 American, Australian, Indian, and Japanese students to study in the United States each year for graduate studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Administered by Schmidt Futures [LINK https://www.quadfellowship.org/], the Quad Fellowship brings our four countries closer together by empowering exceptional STEM graduate students to advance research and innovation throughout their careers and across the Indo-Pacific.
In future years the Quad Fellowship is expected to expand to include educational and professional opportunities in Australia, India, and Japan, as we continue to grow the ties among our next generation of innovators.
6. CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY
Indo-Pacific nations are at the epicenter of the climate crisis and bear many of the most damaging impacts of climate change. The Quad aims to help countries mitigate the effects of climate change and strengthen their climate resilience.
Clean Energy Supply Chain Principles and Diversification Program
The Quad will work together to identify and address gaps in our manufacturing capacity for critical clean energy materials and technologies. In particular, the program will focus on the supply chains for solar photovoltaics (PV), hydrogen electrolyzer, and electric vehicle battery technologies.
Quad partners are contributing funding, technical expertise, and in-kind support to the supply chain assessment efforts and subsequent investment decisions. The Quad also established joint principles for clean energy supply chains. [LINK: https://www.pmc.gov.au/resources/quad-statement-principles-clean-energy-supply-chains-indo-pacific]
The QUIN will convene a public-private Quad Clean Energy Supply Chain Conference to showcase Quad country incentives and public financing opportunities, promote investment in vertical clean energy supply chains and identify and address non-financial barriers to accelerated clean energy deployment. Over the long term this initiative will transform the way we invest in clean energy supply chains throughout the region.
Climate Information Services Initiative (CIS)
The Quad’s Climate Information Services (CIS) Initiative commits to building capacity, cooperation, and information-sharing mechanisms for climate data in the Indo-Pacific. These tools and information will help Pacific Island countries better adapt to climate change.
The United States will review the interoperability of Quad countries’ services and provide technical assistance to Pacific Island countries to increase their capacities to anticipate and prepare for current and future climates, including early warning systems and sea-level rise vital to informing decision-making. India’s Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) is working with climate vulnerable nations, including through its Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) Initiative.
Japan has highlighted possibilities to improve climate data interoperability through the Asia-Pacific Climate Change Information Platform (AP-PLAT). Australia is working to enhance climate-related meteorological capabilities in the South Pacific through Weather-Ready Pacific effort.
This coordination will reduce transaction costs for Pacific Island countries in accessing timely and authoritative climate data and tools while establishing early warning and other climate information systems.
Quad Indo-Pacific Oceans Research Alliance (QIPORA)
QIPORA is an ocean research alliance which will link lead ocean research agencies in India, Japan, Australia, and the United States.
Led by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the QIPORA will expand ocean research and cooperation between scientists and build science and technology pipelines to enhance the resilience of Indo-Pacific nations.
This new collaborative scientific network will exchange data on the Indian and Pacific Oceans and their influence on regional and global climate variability, and how sea level rise and climate change are impacting marine ecosystems and Quad member resources.
7. HEALTH
As the world continues to recover from COVID-19, the Quad recognizes the importance of strengthening health security and the Indo-Pacific’s ability to handle future health crises.
Quad Health Security Partnership
Launched at the 2023 Quad Leaders’ Summit, the Quad Health Security Partnership builds on the success of the Quad Vaccine Partnership. The first activities will be a package of concrete initiatives to strengthen prevention, detection, and response to outbreaks of disease with epidemic or pandemic potential.
Quad partners are pooling efforts to expand and integrate surveillance for key pathogens, increase workforce training for pandemic preparedness and response, expand virtual training and telemedicine capacity, strengthen vaccine data systems, strengthen diagnosis and treatment capacity of core hospitals.
Quad partners plan to conduct a second pandemic preparedness exercise to increase coordination and information sharing.
This partnership will support field epidemiology and outbreak responder training, boost disease surveillance, improve data systems, and build the capabilities of national health emergency operations centers, allowing experts to offer faster and better-informed solutions to outbreaks and other health challenges affecting the Indo-Pacific. The Quad will use this partnership to address critical gaps across the Indo-Pacific region in prevention, preparedness and response to outbreaks.
8. TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS
The Quad leaders are committed to establishing shared principles and standards for the benefit of our citizens as technologies continue to develop and evolve.
Joint Principles on Critical and Emerging Technology Standards
The Quad Principles on Critical and Emerging Technology Standards affirm our support for private sector-led, consensus-based, and multistakeholder approaches to international standards development that foster interoperability, compatibility, and inclusiveness.
Quad members are working together with industry, academia, and the private sector to develop standards and welcome all other nations to join us in pursuit of this shared vision for the development of technology standards, guided by these Principles.
The Quad Principles [LINK: https://www.pmc.gov.au/resources/quad-principles-critical-and-emerging-technology-standards] provide a baseline for how the Quad members work together to foster the development of critical and emerging technologies that make the lives of our citizens more secure, prosperous, and rewarding. They should promote interoperability, innovation, trust, transparency, diverse markets, security-by-design, compatibility, inclusiveness and open trade.
The Quad International Standards Cooperation Network (Q-ISCN)
The Q-ISCN is a standards information sharing network wherein Quad members share information on key technical standards developments.
This information-sharing network extends the reach of the Quad to monitor more standards developments than ever before, including in international standards bodies, and identify opportunities to work together with our private sectors on standards that will enhance security while facilitating access to new technologies for our citizens.
9. CYBER
From cybersecurity to critical infrastructure to software, the Quad is committed to advancing a secure and resilient cyber ecosystem.
Cyber Challenge
The Quad Cyber Challenge was held for the first time this year to promote cyber awareness and empower participants across the Indo-Pacific to protect themselves online. An estimated 85,000 people across the Indo-Pacific took part in the challenge, and nearly 600 different schools, universities, companies and non-profits took action to protect themselves and their communities.
For the United States’ capstone event, the National Security Council and the Department of Education invited students and administrators to the White House to hear from a panel of leading cybersecurity professionals about career paths and opportunities in the field of cybersecurity.
This Challenge enabled people in the Indo-Pacific region to develop a knowledge base of best practices for cybersecurity, so they are better equipped to protect themselves online.
Critical Infrastructure Principles
Cyber attacks against hospitals, schools, electricity and telecom systems are occurring regularly around the world. It is imperative to secure such systems against these threats and these principles provide key guidelines for improving our defenses against cyber threats to critical infrastructure and services.
Quad partners developed joint principles for the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure, designed to strengthen the Indo-Pacific’s defenses against cyber threats to critical infrastructure and services.
Software Security Principles
Software drives our lives – from our phones to the systems that deliver clean water and electricity and protect our national defense.
Quad partners developed joint principles to collectively improve software security [LINK: https://www.pmc.gov.au/resources/quad-cybersecurity-partnership-joint-principles-secure-software] by promoting minimum cybersecurity practices for governments to guide their development, use, and procurement of software. These joint principles help ensure that Quad governments use our purchasing power to drive the development of safer and more secure software.
10. SPACE
As interest in the space domain continues to grow, Quad countries are increasing cooperation on civil and commercial activities, including improving information sharing on climate and space situational awareness data.
Extreme Precipitation Events
Climate change has resulted in an increase in global extreme precipitation events. The Quad Space Working Group Extreme Precipitation Steering Committee has hosted two workshops to strengthen collaboration between Quad countries to build capacity in the region to monitor and respond to extreme precipitation events more effectively.
We will promote the use of earth observation data and other space-based tools to monitor and respond to climate impacts and aid emerging space faring Indo-Pacific nations in accessing and using these resources.
Commercial Space Cooperation
The commercial space industry in each Quad country is growing, innovative, and entrepreneurial. Through Quad cooperation, we hope to further grow our respective space sectors to support good-paying jobs in the Quad, enhance the resilience of our space supply chains, and lead the region in setting responsible standards.
Quad partners commit to strengthening cooperation on commercial space activities and will convene a commercial space business forum in 2023.
Space Situational Awareness
The Quad will cooperate in leveraging space situational awareness and space traffic coordination capabilities for spaceflight safety and sustainability of the outer space environment, including increased international collaboration on standards for data sharing and global norms for sharing of satellite operator data and best practices.
Such efforts will contribute to the long-term sustainability of the space environment, including helping us to avoid collisions in outer space that could generate debris that is dangerous to crewed flight as well as satellites.
