The Quad, a group of nations comprised of Australia, India, Japan, and the USA, has announced several collaborative efforts to share technology and boost the group’s development. Among them, is a plan to set new global security standards for the tech industry.
The four countries’ leaders met late last week and announced the joint initiative that includes shared ‘Quad Principles on Technology, Design, Development, Governance, and Use.’
In a joint statement, the Quad outlines the aims of the document, including a call to action for the technology industry at large.
What the statement says
In the statement, the nations say they expect technology suppliers, vendors, and distributors to produce and maintain secure systems. They also expect transparency, trustworthiness, and accountability for practices.
Technology developers are also urged to build safety and security-by-design approaches to ensure safety and security practices are baked into the technology development process.
The joint statement further spells out the Quad’s desire that the principles guide, not just the region, but the world too, toward “responsible, open, high-standards innovation.” The Quad was formed in 2004 and formalized in 2007. It was then ignored for ten years, before a 2017 revival.
After the revival
The Quad increased collaboration, culminating in the summit last week. The language used to talk about information security standards for the world represents a new level of ambition for the collective.
The nations also intend to launch a ‘Quad Senior Cyber Group’ that will see ‘leader-level experts’ meet regularly to propel forward government and industry on enabling continuous improvements in areas that include adopting and implementing shared cyber standards, develop safe software, build workforce/talent, promote “the scalability and cybersecurity of secure and trusted digital infrastructure.”
Foursomes like this are rare, but the Quad seems poised to move forward quicker from now on.
15 minutes ago
