Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the comparative contribution of the UK, Europe and China to international standards development for the digital sector; and what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on that contribution and the development of those standards.

Working with other departments the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) actively supports the process of developing standards for the digital sector. We note that it is primarily a matter for industry to lead on the detail of standards. The main role of government is to support open processes that are transparent and available for all appropriate stakeholders with special focus on considerations that support wider societal needs. In conjunction with the Department for Business, Energy Innovation and Skills (BEIS) and the Department for Exiting the EU (DExEU), DCMS is working to consider the effect of leaving the EU on all technical standards work on the digital sector. Reviewing the international dimension and possible scenarios is a key part of this work. These assessments will contribute to the overall government policy on leaving the EU and underpin particular approaches that relate to digital standards.