The government plans to submit a bill to revise the economic security promotion law during the current session of parliament that began on Wednesday. The Japanese government plans to revise the economic security promotion law to support companies with economic security-linked projects overseas. This will be the first revision of the law, established in 2022. The move comes amid a rapidly changing international environment, as the Ukraine-Russia war drags on and China continues to flex its economic muscle. Competition is also intensifying in the development of artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies.

Amid signs of a stagnating economy, the UK is going all-in on AI. On Monday, British Minister Keir Starmer announced a new AI Opportunities Action Plan. At the center of the initiative are "AI Growth Zones," which the government plans to establish in de-industrialized areas throughout the country. Starmer said the UK's first AI Growth Zone would be established in Culham, Oxfordshire, home to the country's Atomic Energy Authority. More zones will be announced in the summer.

New building regulations aimed at improving energy efficiency are set to increase the price of new homes, as well as those of extensions and loft conversions on existing ones. The rules, which came into effect on Wednesday in England, are part of government plans to reduce the UK's carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. They set new standards for ventilation, energy efficiency and heating, and state that new residential buildings must have charging points for electric vehicles. The moves are the most significant change to building regulations in years, and industry experts say they will inevitably lead to higher prices at a time when a shortage of materials and high labour costs is already driving up bills. Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, a trade group for small and medium-sized builders, says the measures will require new materials, testing methods, products and systems to be installed.

The government plans to establish a licensing system for operating drones when the flights are beyond the operator's line of sight, government sources said Monday. The proposal comes as the government hopes for increased usage of unmanned vehicles for purposes such as delivering daily necessities and medicine, or assisting security patrols in areas with an aging population, the sources said. The license, which the government hopes will be introduced in fiscal 2022, will be age-restricted, and will require operators to pass both a written and practical examination. The licenses will be only valid for a certain period of time and will have to be renewed. Illegal drone use will lead to the cancellation or suspension of a license.

The government is now working on policies to develop electronic components manufacturing base in the country and encourage exports, secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and IT Ajay Prakash Sawhney said. "From near assembly, we are right now moving in that direction seriously with policies to bringing sub-assemblies..., component manufacturing in India," Sawhney said at the Digital Governance Tech Summit. Once printed circuit board (PCB or the motherboard) assembly takes off in India, it will not only cater to the mobile phone segment, but also other major electronic devices, he added. The last five years, the MeiTY secretary said, witnessed a resurgence of manufacturing in India, starting with assembling of mobile phones. "From around six crore mobile phones that were being assembled in 2014-15, we closed the last financial year with assembly of 29 crore mobile phones within the country. Our entire consumption for the country is about 33-34 crore a year," Sawhney said.

TOKYO (WASHINGTON POST) - Japan is working to develop technology that will fully utilise artificial intelligence (AI) to detect suspicious vessels, according to sources. Aimed at strengthening maritime surveillance capabilities in waters around Japan, the envisioned technology is projected to be used for such purposes as monitoring North Korean ship-to-ship cargo transfers in international waters, the sources said. The government aims to start testing the AI-based technology in fiscal year 2021 using vessels of the Self-Defence Forces. The system will analyse information automatically transmitted by radio from the Automatic Identification System on board many ships. The AI will learn an enormous amount of information on the location and speed of ships, making it possible to automatically detect abnormalities such as ships navigating far away from ordinary routes or in the opposite direction. The Self-Defence Forces will identify suspicious ships by comparing the AI-collected data with information gathered by warning radar, and will dispatch destroyers and patrol aircraft for warning and surveillance activities.

The government plans to build a system using artificial intelligence to ease spectator congestion at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, sources said Tuesday. The system will help guide spectators to less crowded exit routes at competition venues. Some 10 million spectators are expected to attend the Summer Olympics and Paralympics from July to September 2020. Fans will receive congestion forecasts at various points every 30 minutes after an event ends through their smartphones and electronic boards set up around the venue, and will be guided toward less congested routes to train stations. To make such forecasts, the AI-based system will obtain information on the flow of pedestrians through roadside cameras and by measuring smartphone activity. Measures to protect individuals' privacy are being considered.

The present global verve about artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies has resonated in China as much as anywhere on earth. With the State Council's issuance of the "New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan" (新一代人工智能发展规划) on July 20, China's government set out an ambitious roadmap including targets through 2030. Meanwhile, in China's leading cities, flashy conferences on AI have become commonplace. It seems every mid-sized tech company wants to show off its self-driving car efforts, while numerous financial tech start-ups tout an AI-driven approach. Chatbot startups clog investors' date books, and Shanghai metro ads pitch AI-taught English language learning.

Support for the research and development of artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to play a significant part in a new national Digital Strategy to be announced later this week. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) indicated over the weekend that the strategy will include a major review into the potential for AI, and to identify its critical elements, to be led by Wendy Hall, professor of computer science at Southampton University, and Jermoe Pesenti, chief executive officer of AI company BenevolentTech. It will look at how government and industry could work together on developing AI. The strategy will also confirm funds of £17.3 million through the Engineering and Sciences Research Council to support develop the development of AI and robotics in UK universities. DCMS said this reflects the strategy's ambition for Britain to build on areas of strength and develop a global lead in technologies, including cyber security, connected and smart devices, autonomous vehicles as well as AI.

The government plans to compile guidelines for self-driving cars in fiscal 2017 starting in April as it prepares to rework the existing legal framework ahead of the rollout of such vehicles, officials said Thursday. Japan is seeking to promote the spread of automated driving in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and needs to address legal issues and set new safety regulations. Among potential changes, the government needs to define liability in the event of an accident involving a self-driving car. Based on the guidelines, Tokyo plans to formulate necessary legislative revisions and have them passed during the regular Diet session in 2019. "We will aim to address labor shortages in rural areas and help people with mobility difficulties by introducing automated driving that does not need human drivers by 2020," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told members of a government panel on future investment.