BRICS communications ministers talk IT cooperation, cybersecurity

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‍By CGTN's Yang Chengxi

A year after major economies jointly published the G20 Blueprint for Innovative Growth, officials from the BRICS group have gathered to further discuss digital transformation during the third BRICS Communications Ministers' Meeting in Hangzhou.

Leading IT and communications companies from the BRICS countries also participated in a round-table, with the group publishing a ministerial manifesto on information technology.

"Ministers have reached wide consensus on issues such as technology innovation, IT infrastructure building, connectivity and security,” said Liu Lihua, vice minister of Industry and Information Technology in China.

Liu Lihua, China's vice minister of Industry and Information Technology, delivers a keynote speech. /Photo by the meeting organizer

“With joint efforts from BRICS governments, of BRICS IT ministries, we can do a lot to really create the alternative solutions in such areas as mobile operating systems, which are monopolized, or software for databases, which are monopolized today,” said Nikolay Nikiforov, Russian Telecom and Mass Communications Minister.

Another topic high on the agenda is cybersecurity.

“Cybersecurity must be dealt firmly and every country should see a serious in this”, said Manoj Kumar Sinha, India’s Minister of Communications.

The world has seen several major cybersecurity incidents in 2017 alone, such as the WannaCry virus that locked computers and demanded the payment of a ransom.

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