The Government agrees that ensuring that the UK is engaged in shaping international digital technical standards is crucial to supporting the UK’s economic prosperity, safeguarding our national security, and protecting the UK’s norms and values now, and in the future. DCMS, working closely with key UK stakeholders, is engaging with international digital standards bodies and like minded partners across a broad range of digital technical standards topics such as: Internet standards; artificial intelligence standards; telecommunication standards; and smart cities standards. An example of our leading work in shaping international standards is the development of European Standard (EN) 303 645 through the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. This is the first major international standard for the security of connected consumer devices, which was published in June 2020, following a voting process with representatives from over 20 national standards organisations. The recently published Integrated Review sets out that the UK will drive forward efforts to ensure that digital technical standards developed by international standards bodies deliver for all. It also notes the importance of ensuring that transparency and accountability are embedded from the outset in the design and deployment of new technologies. The UK must influence new technical standards in priority areas and develop new public policy approaches to technology which encourage innovation and interoperability, while protecting rights and freedoms. Through our G7 presidency, we will host the Future Tech Forum—bringing together governments, industry, academia and civil society in dialogue on a core set of principles to guide the evolution of the international technology ecosystem. In emerging areas where standards have yet to be developed, there is an opportunity for the UK to drive the development of global technical standards, based on the needs of UK stakeholders. Quantum is a key example, in addition to other technologies such as artificial intelligence. HMG has invested in the development of quantum technologies through the National Quantum technologies programme (NQTP). The NQTP Strategic Intent document1 identifies the need to “develop a more proactive approach to shaping standards with international partners and relevant government standards bodies”, and “strengthen our engagement in the development of international standards and benchmarking”. It is also worth noting that one of the roles of the British Standards Institution, as the UK’s National Standards Body, is to lead the development of standards that support national interest. Finally, in relation to our wider engagement on the development of important standards in international standards bodies, the Government will continue championing the industry-led multi stakeholder approach. Under our G7 presidency, a side event of over 70 participants from industry, civil society, academia, standards bodies, and government representatives, came together to discuss how to strengthen the multistakeholder system. 1 https://uknqt.ukri.org/files/strategicintent2020/ standards are fit-for-purpose, representative of all stakeholders, and have an underpinning basis for trust, which is particularly important for critical digital technologies.