Andrus Ansip, Vice President of the European Commission, Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender equality, Hiroshige Seko, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan Naoki Ota, Special Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Japan, and Haruhi Kumazawa, Commissioner of the Personal Information Protection Commission, Japan, met in Hannover on 20th March 2017 with a view to advancing cooperation on the data economy.