India to strengthen digital cooperation among BRICS members

New Delhi, August 18 (IANS) India has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthen digital cooperation and future network technologies at the 7th ‘BRICS ICT Working Group Meeting’ in Pune, guided by its Chairship theme, "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, according to an official statement.Amit Agrawal, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, outlined the theme of the ICT Track under India’s Chairship, “Innovate, Cooperate and Transform (ICT) for a Resilient Future”, and its four pillars, at the three-day event.He said that the inauguration marks the beginning of an important week of engagement under the BRICS ICT Track and represents the continuation of a collaborative process that has been underway for several months.Since the commencement of India's Chairship of the BRICS ICT Track earlier this year, “we have worked closely together through successive Working Group meetings, thematic webinars, discussions on concept notes and regular exchanges among experts and officials,” said Agrawal.“These engagements have enabled us to share experiences, build a common understanding of our priorities and collectively shape the agenda before us today,” he told the BRICS members.Notably, the Council of the BRICS Institute of Future Networks reviewed the activities of the designated national branches, together with updates from the Study Groups on artificial intelligence, next generation communications, internet applications in Industry 4.0, and electromagnetic field exposure.The meetings will continue with focus on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Meeting of the Digital BRICS Task Force.According to an official statement, the Working Group took up the ‘Issues Note’ priorities during the Pune meeting, which were set out by the Chairship, and the questions for discussion under each pillar, along with a compilation of the responses received from member countries to the Survey Questionnaire.The meetings of the BRICS Track on Cooperation in Information and Communication Technologies opened under India’s BRICS Chairship.