ANNEX G7 Opportunities for Collaboration To strengthen international cooperation and collaboration and to achieve the actions in the G7 ICT Ministers’ Joint Declaration, G7 members seek to share information on the following opportunities for collaboration where greater international cooperation could be an asset, and encourage all G7 members to consider expanding collaboration on the following initiatives: Promoting access to ICT  The United States welcomes collaboration on the Global Connect Initiative (GCI), a multistakeholder effort with the goal of bringing an additional 1.5 billion people online by 2020. The Global Connect Initiative promotes the notion that Internet infrastructure is critical to economic development. Through it, stakeholders from governments, international financial institutions, businesses, and civil society organizations work together to encourage countries to integrate Internet connectivity in national development strategies and to create policy environments that enable broadband deployment; to ensure that international development institutions prioritize digital access; and to catalyze and support innovative industry-driven solutions to extend connectivity. At the April 14 Global Connect Initiative High Level Event cohosted by the U.S. Department of State and the World Bank, participants announced more than 65 new and ongoing initiatives supporting connectivity with investment valued at over $20 billion. More information is available here: https://share.america.gov/globalconnect/.  Japan welcomes collaboration on initiatives to promote quality ICT infrastructure and share information on its development and deployment in accordance with Japan’s Partnership for Quality Infrastructure (PQI). Specifically, Japan welcomes collaboration on an international symposium to share knowledge and expertise about the development of quality broadband infrastructure, taking into account the outcomes of the Global Connect Initiative and discussion at the G7 ICT Minister’s Meeting in Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan.  Japan, Italy and Canada welcome collaboration on initiatives to improve ICT literacy amongst children, which aims to promote safe and secure use of Internet by them.  Italy welcomes collaboration on initiatives that promote a fully usable and accessible digitalization of cultural heritage to all. We encourage the G7 to promote capillary digitalization of artifacts and sites. G7 members can work together with all the stakeholder interested to be part of a common world digital platform accessible to all the humanity. Furthermore, Italy strongly support the UNESCO recently approved initiative on the United Nations' Blue Helmets protecting heritage sites around the world at important sites at risk from terrorist attacks, or in war zones, or zones hit by natural disasters.  Canada too welcomes collaboration that promotes the digitalization of history, such as oral interviews, digitized artefacts, and memorabilia related to various global conflicts. 1