Notice

12th UK-Japan Joint Committee Meeting on Cooperation in Science and Technology: joint statement

Published 19 December 2023

The 12th UK-Japan Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) on science and technology was held in London, UK on 7 November 2023 between the UK government and government of Japan. The JCM is the biennial forum to review science and technology collaboration, and identify and agree priorities for future collaboration between UK and Japanese governments and scientific agencies.

The Joint Committee Meeting was led at a technical level by the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Dame Angela McLean, and Japan’s Cabinet Office Chief Executive Member of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Takahiro Ueyama. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) Director for International Research and Innovation, Mr Adam Jackson hosted the meeting and co-chaired with Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador for Science and Technology Cooperation, Ms Misako Kaji, accompanied by representatives of UK and Japanese governments and scientific agencies.

This Joint Committee Meeting convened with the aims of reviewing the strong and comprehensive partnership between Japan and the UK on science, innovation, and technology, and setting strategic direction for the next phase of this UK-Japan relationship. The Joint Committee endorsed recent progress on basic research activity as well as innovation and industrial technology collaboration, building on commitments made in The Hiroshima Accord and the Industrial Science, Innovation and Technology Implementing Arrangement.

Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST); Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS); Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) and UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) referred to future joint activity in fields including engineering biology and semiconductors under the ASPIRE and International Science Partnerships Fund as an example. The UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), UKRI Medical Research Council and AMED discussed their ambition to cooperate in translational, clinical and applied health and care research, including dementia and clinical trials, and agreed to proceed with discussions on specific cooperation.

The volume of joint research between UK and Japan has increased in many fields, such as neurodegenerative disease, and all funding bodies present expressed a desire to continue to proactively forge stronger partnerships and develop collaborative opportunities. There was also shared recognition of the valuable work ongoing between UK and Japanese communities on international research infrastructure such as Hyper-Kamiokande, in the development of SKAO, and through the ATLAS Experiment at CERN.

DSIT and METI confirmed their intention to hold discussions in the first half of 2024 to realise and progress cooperation under the UK-Japan Semiconductor Partnership. They also confirmed their intention to organise matching events for cooperation based on the Industrial Science, Innovation & Technology Implementing Arrangement at an early date.

UKRI Innovate UK and Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) jointly presented to the Joint Committee on their latest collaborative innovation programme, launched on October 23 through the Eureka Globalstars framework. They agreed to further collaborative opportunities for innovative businesses to work together to leverage the strength of the UK and Japan, and continue discussions on possible workshops and possible bilateral funding programmes for joint collaboration in industrial technologies.

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) jointly updated their collaborative activities on InRange, Space Situational Awareness and LiteBIRD and agreed to continue information sharing between UK and Japanese space agencies to deepen cooperation on space for mutual benefit.

Participants shared information and priorities on the governance and development of priority technologies, including artificial intelligence, engineering biology, and quantum technologies, in addition to the above-mentioned semiconductors and space, and agreed to identify areas for closer partnership and cooperation. 

Discussion focused on strengthening researcher networks and collaborations, supporting industrial innovation and commercialisation of critical technologies, and shaping governance, standards, and policy to support science and technology cooperation. The Joint Committee acknowledged the crucial balance between researcher-led projects and strategic funding in building a collaborative science and technology ecosystem.

Both delegations also demonstrated that UK and Japan share a vision for increased collaboration and researcher exchange, and committed to work together to promote and expand the opportunities for UK and Japanese research communities collaborate on research and innovation. This is enshrined in the UK-Japan Memorandum of Cooperation on people-to-people exchanges, signed in Tokyo on the same day, 7 November 2023, between the UK Foreign Secretary and the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs. The delegations agreed that building an international research system that provides the right conditions for researchers to undertake overseas exchange is critical to support high quality research output and nurture the next generation of scientific leaders.

Finally, both the UK and Japan recognised shifts in global geopolitical and technological trends that renders coordinated action on science and technology even more critical.

The next meeting of the UK-Japan Joint Committee on Science and Technology is expected to take place in Japan in 2025.