Business Trip to US, Europe, and Devos
2023.01.22
This year’s G7 Digital Technology Ministerial Meeting will be held in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, on April 29 and 30. One of the major themes of the meeting will be about Data Free Flow with Trust, or DFFT. DFFT is a set of agreements that would facilitate secure international data distribution.
I traveled to Paris, Brussels, Washington, London, and Berlin to discuss DFFT among other technology-related issues with G7 country ministers.
At the end of my trip abroad, I attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to attend various bi-national meetings and deliver a speech on DFFT and other digital issues.
Here’s what my itinerary for the trip looked like:
January 8
09:10 Depart from Haneda NH215
16:30 Arrive in Paris
18:30 Dinner at Japanese Ambassador’s residence
January 9
Picture of a morning in Paris before sunrise.
09:00 Visit Kayrros
10:00 Visit to Preligens
11:00 Meet with Digital Minister Barrot
12:00 Meet with OECD Deputy Secretary General Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen
14:00 Lunch at OECD Ambassador’s Residence
16:25 Depart from Paris North Station
17:47 Arrive at Brussels South Station
19:30 Discuss with digital companies at Ambassador’s Residence
January 10
09:00 Meet with EU High Representative/Vice-President Bestea
11:55 Depart from Brussels UA951
14:45 Arrival at Dulles Airport
17:00 Meet with Senator Haggerty in the Senate LBJ Room
Dinner at Ambassador’s Residence
January 10 was my birthday, but because I flew west across the Atlantic from Europe to the US, it was the longest birthday of my life so far due to the time difference. Thank you to everyone on both continents who celebrated with me.
January 11
08:00 Meeting with U.S. Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy, Mr. Fick
09:30 Palantir Visit
11:30 Meet with Deputy Secretary of Commerce Graves
14:00 Meet with Undersecretary Silvers, Department of Homeland Security
15:00 Speech at CSIS
17:00 Discussion with ITI (Information Technology Industry Council)
18:30 Dinner with former Senator Shelby’s staff
Almost forty years ago, I was an intern in Senator Shelby’s office, who was then a Democratic Congressman. Ann, in the middle, served as Senator Shelby’s secretary until his retirement.
January 12
07:30 Visit to Rock Creek, Inc.
09:00 Meet with Katherine Tye USTR
10:00 Speech and discussion at Georgetown University
Wearing the hat I received as a gift!
A picture with professors at Georgetown University specializing in digital fields
12:00 Meet with USDS Matur CDO
13:15 Discuss with Professor Kent Calder and others
14:30 Interview and discussion with Japanese media in Washington
18：25 Departure from Dulles BA216
January 13th
06：30 Arrive in London
09：00 Visit Stonehenge
The Stonehenge museum had a Japanese Jomon-era stonehedge exhibition
11:30 Meeting with Minister Donnellan Digital @ Laycock Abbey in Minister Donnellan’s constituency in Wiltshire
Minister Donnellan was originally scheduled to participate in the G7 Digital Ministerial Meeting. However, since her child’s due date is the very day of the G7 Digital Ministerial Meeting, it appears that a different minister will attend in her place.
Laycock Abbey is famous as the place where the world’s first photo shoot took place.
Here is the world’s first negative, and next to it, a photo taken with my phone camera at the same window.
Like this place.
16:00 Discussion with GDS
18:00 Meeting with former-Prime Minister Boris Johnson
He enjoyed peach juice from Fukushima.
19:00 Meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Julia Lopez and others at the Ambassador’s Residence
When I greeted them and said I was looking forward to seeing them at the G7 Digital Ministerial Meeting, Minister Lopez replied saying, “Actually, I am pregnant, so we are currently in the process of selecting people for the meeting.” That’s two digital ministers!
January 14
10:30 Meeting with Security Minister Tugenhut
We spent an hour walking around the city and exchanging views.
12:00 Discussion with Japanese companies
14:30 Visit to Chartwell
This is the private residence of former Prime Minister Churchill.
Here’s a picture of Churchill’s bath, where he was rumored to often take notes in.
17:00 Private dinner
January 15
09:00 Visit to KDDI Data Center
12:30 Lunch with Minister of Finance Jeremy Hunt
I enjoyed lunch with the whole Hunt family: Mrs. Hunt, their three children, and their dog.
14：30 Interview and discussion with Japanese media in London
18:55 Depart London on BA988
21:45 Arrive in Berlin
January 16
09：00 Meeting with Digital Minister Wissing
10:25 Interview with Deutsche Börse
10:45 Discussions with Japanese companies and start-ups in Germany
14:55 Depart from Berlin LX967
16:20 Arrive in Zurich
On the way from Zurich to Davos, we stopped by Liechtenstein.
Here’s Fadoz Cathedral, Rhine Bridge, and the border on the bridge.
20:00 Reception dinner
Filming content for the Digital Agency’s Twitter account:
January 17
08:30 PCR testing
09:30 “Leading in an Era of Digital Transformation”
A ministerial-level closed session.
Selfie with former Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop
10:45 Meet with VISA President McInerney
11:30 Meet with Michael Pank, AWS Vice President
Singapore’s Information Minister Josephine Teo
14:10 Meet with Chuck Robbins CEO of CISCO, Inc.
14:30 Meet with Greg Toom, President of ZOOM
15:00 Open Session, “Data Collaboration: Lessons from the Field.”
16:00 Meet with Mr. Skinnari, Minister of Development Cooperation and Trade of Finland
16:30 Metaverse Global Collaboration Village Tour
17:20 Meeting with David Beasley, WFP Executive Director
17:45 Meet with David Schwimmer, CEO of LSEG
18:30 Meet with Prime Minister Bouden of Tunisia
Meet with Fedorov, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Minister
19:30 Dinner hosted by WEF Founder Schwab
From left to right: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister and Poland’s President
From right to left, the Minister of Transport of Switzerland, the Grand Duke of Monaco, skip a person, the Prime Minister of Spain.
January 18
07:45 Meet with Bancel, CEO of Moderna
08:00 Meet with Pat Gelsinger, CEO of INTEL
08:30 Meet with Ekholm, CEO of Ericsson
08:50 Meet with Julie Bishop, former Foreign Minister of Australia
10:00 Three ministers from Japan spoke on the “Country Strategy Dialogue on Japan”
11:15 Meet with Jubeir, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia
12:00 Lunch with Japanese participants at the WEF
18:05 Depart from Zurich NH6100
19:05 Arrive in Frankfurt
20:45 Depart from Frankfurt NH224
January 19
17:55 Arrive at Haneda
