From vision to action: Strengthening EU–Japan standards cooperation for trusted digital futures

Keynote speakers, Olivier Bringer, Head of Unit for International Affairs and Policy Outreach at the European Commission; Yasushi Furukawa, Director of the ICT Standardization Division at Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Hideyuki Iwata, President and Director General of TTC; and Martin Chatel, Chief Policy Officer at ETSI, set a powerful tone. Their messages reinforced that we are at a pivotal moment with AI, quantum technologies, 6G, and trusted data infrastructures rapidly evolving, and that coordinated action between Europe and Japan through ETSI and TTC is essential to shape secure, interoperable, and globally relevant standards.

Throughout the Technical Sessions, moderated by Igor Minaev, Director of External Relations, and Eriko Hondo, Senior Expert at KDDI Corporation, several clear takeaways emerged:

• Mobile & Wireless Communications: Trusted and interoperable frameworks remain essential. 6G-Mirai, an EU-Japan collaboration, aims at developing reliable and robust AI-native wireless communication systems. Greater alignment between standardisations bodies, open-source communities and regulators will accelerate innovation and deployment. Specific use cases of Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) standardized by ETSI ISG NFV represent a successful foundation to build upon.
• Quantum Technologies & QKD: Quantum technologies will underpin future trust infrastructures for governments and industry. Standards must be interoperable-by-design, testable, and certification-ready to enable scaling. With PQC and QKD nearing deployment, hybrid approaches create new standardisation opportunities. Crypto-agility and global standards will be key to long-term resilience. Proposal for “Quantum-safe Security Profile” as one deliverable usable in both EU and Japan markets.
• Artificial Intelligence: Japan’s ambition to become the “world’s most AI-friendly country” aligns closely with EU priorities. As stressed by Michaela Klopstra, Vice-Chair of TC SAI, secure-by-design, transparent, and accountable AI, supported by practical lifecycle-based standards EN 304 223, will underpin trustworthy AI adoption.
  Data Governance & Data Spaces: AI is reshaping business systems but cannot deliver without trusted data flows. Standardisation drives trust and scale but must balance rigor with flexibility to support evolving and diverse needs, as well as rapid technological evolution. As stressed by Franck Le Gall, Vice-Chair of TC DATA, standards like EN 304 199 and EN 303 760 provide foundational specifications supporting trusted data sharing, interoperability, and governance across data spaces.

Stronger EU-Japan cooperation through ETSI and TTC will be key to delivering secure, interoperable, and globally scalable digital solutions.