2. The Parties shall encourage the generation and dissemination of new knowledge, taking account of its potential impacts, including harmful effects, on the environment and society. They shall support skills enhancement to keep pace with technological advances and innovation, and shall support mobility and training of researchers. They shall promote partnerships between industry, academia and the public sector as well as activities of the private sector aimed at gathering knowledge and testing ideas in order to generate new products with real commercial potential, paying special attention to women and youth as innovators.
3. The Parties shall promote investments in research and development especially in high added-value segments of value chains, and shall endeavour to address societal challenges especially in the areas of environment, climate change, energy, food safety and security, and health.
Article 48
ICT and the digital economy
1. The Parties shall cooperate to reduce the digital divide by promoting cooperation with regard to the development of the digital society to benefit citizens and businesses through accessibility to digital technologies, including ICT adapted to local circumstances. The Parties shall support measures that enable easy access to ICT through, among others, the use of affordable and renewable energy sources and the development and redeployment of low-cost wireless networks. They shall also work towards greater complementarity and harmonisation of communication systems and their adaptation to new technologies.
2. The Parties agree on the central role of the digital economy as an amplifier and accelerator for change that can drive significant economic diversification, create jobs and enable leapfrog growth. They agree to advance digitalisation with a view to reducing transaction costs and lessening information asymmetries, with the overarching aims of improving productivity and sustainability.
3. The Parties shall promote and support digital entrepreneurship, particularly by women and youth, and the digital transformation of MSMEs. They shall encourage the development of e-commerce to revamp supply chains and expand markets, and encourage the expansion of e-banking, including to reduce costs of remittances, and the deployment of e-governance solutions.
4. The Parties shall cooperate on developing and managing privacy and data protection policies, promoting measures to facilitate data flows, and supporting the regulatory framework to promote the production, sale and delivery of digital products and services.