Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday at the G20 summit formally declared the launch of the "Osaka Track," an overarching framework promoting cross-border data flow with enhanced protections.
Sandwiched between U.S. President Donald Trump on his right and Chinese President Xi Jinping on his left at a meeting on the digital economy, Abe underscored the importance of his "Data Free Flow with Trust" concept, a move spearheaded by Japan that calls for the creation of a set of international rules enabling the free movement of data across borders.
The Osaka initiative, introduced in a speech at this year's World Economic Forum and one of Abe's pet projects at the G20, seeks to standardize rules in global movement of data flows with better protection in personal information, intellectual property and cybersecurity.