The in-person meetings of the BRICS Track on Cooperation in Information and Communication Technologies opened today at Pune under India’s BRICS Chairship, with the commencement of the 7^th Meeting of the BRICS Working Group for Cooperation in ICTs.

Inaugurating the meetings, Shri Amit Agrawal, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications welcomed the delegations and outlined the theme of the ICT Track under India’s Chairship, “Innovate, Cooperate and Transform (ICT) for a Resilient Future”, and its four pillars. Opening remarks were made by each of the participating member countries.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Amit Agrawal, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, said, “Today's 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. These engagements have enabled us to share experiences, build a common understanding of our priorities and collectively shape the agenda before us today.”

The Council of the BRICS Institute of Future Networks met during the day and 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 Working Group thereafter took up the Issues Note priorities, 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. Concept notes submitted by member countries were taken up for discussion.

The meetings will continue tomorrow with the Meeting of the Focus Group on Digital Public Infrastructure and the Meeting of the Digital BRICS Task Force.

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NJ/ ARJ