Fact Sheet on U S -India Strengthening Cooperation On Cybersecurity The U S and India recognize the importance of cybersecurity and its growing role in world prosperity commerce and culture Accordingly the U S and India are advancing efforts to work together to promote a reliable information and communications infrastructure and the goal of free fair and secure access to cyberspace Cybersecurity cooperation is well underway through a number of ongoing initiatives These include A joint study of the U S Federal Information Security Management Act FISMA by the U S National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Indian Department of Information Technology the U S -India Information and Communications Technology ICT Dialogue focused on increasing economic growth trade and investment in the ICT sector and the U S -India Trade Policy Forum which seeks to enhance trade in ICT services and goods while also addressing related cybersecurity issues A dozen top technology-sector executives and U S government officials visited India in September to discuss economic innovation and looked forward to the upcoming visit of an Indian Technology Delegation to the United States The International Observer Program of the U S Cyber Storm III national cyber incident response exercise included representatives from CERT-India for the first time Indian and U S experts collaborated to develop recommendations for norms of behavior and confidence-building measures in cyberspace which are reflected in the consensus outcome of the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts GGE on Information Security Acknowledging a bright future for joint collaboration in the area of cybersecurity Indian Deputy National Security Advisor Alok Prasad and White House Cybersecurity Coordinator and Special Assistant to the President Howard Schmidt convened a meeting of cybersecurity experts to discuss a wide range of topics of mutual interest this October These discussions provide a foundation to coordinate and guide expert-level cybersecurity cooperation in the future