Deepening innovation ties on BRICS agenda this year

Cooperation on developing high-end technologies will become an important agenda item for the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries during Russias current-year presidency of the group of emerging economies, Finnish Russian digital solutions provider Zyfra said on Tuesday.

Commenting on the current lack information about each other among medium-sized and small businesses, Zyfra said in a statement that the main barrier for commercial projects in BRICS countries is absence of data which correctly describes ongoing processes in digital technology.

“BRICS countries need to promote networking between chambers of commerce, business councils, professional associations and unions, as well as intensify collaboration between business entities through joint projects, trade fairs and exhibitions in the hi-tech sector,” Zyfra CEO Igor Bogachev said.

According to the Zyfra report, while Russia plans to carry out about 150 activities at various levels during its chair assumed on January 1, innovation companies from BRICS will consider the meeting on the sidelines of the Business Twenty (B20), the G20 dialogue with the business community.

The report said that the BRICS countries will consider opportunities to jointly implement digital solutions in the mining, machinery, oil and gas and metallurgy industries, as well as share best practices, such as implementation of robotic mining equipment and real-time machine monitoring and manufacturing data collection systems.

“We have not yet learned how to create the prerequisites for medium-sized companies and small business to learn about each other. This is a task that we need to resolve together. Digitalisation is not a dialogue between major companies, but rather a dialogue between major companies and medium-sized and small ones,” Bogachev said.

“What small companies are creating in terms of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) has not yet been created by big ones – it has not been created by anyone, for that matter,” he added.

The Zyfra report has analysed scientific projects and commercial rollouts in the field of AI and machine learning (ML) conducted by research organizations and companies from 27 countries where India has also made it to the top 10 countries with 5 per cent of publications.

The largest number of publications are in the US (32 per cent) followed by China (12 per cent) and Germany (10 per cent).

The study found that ML techniques have been used in discrete manufacturing (44 per cent), in the process industry (22 per cent) and in the electric power industry (11 per cent). A further 23 per cent of projects belong to industries where AI applications are at early stages of development.

“The main barrier for commercial projects in BRICS countries is a lack or absence of data which correctly describes undergoing process. Successful results are mainly achieved by interdisciplinary groups consisting of data scientists, IT specialists and industry experts,” Bogachev said.

“We believe that there is a huge opportunity for significant breakthroughs in the IIoT and AI market for companies from the BRICS countries. There is still no obvious leader in that market, it is just forming. Therefore, young companies in this area have a chance to take a prominent place,” he added.