On September 20-21, 2024, the 8th Meeting of the BRICS Working Group on ICT and High-Performance Computing was held in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod (UNN) and the Government of Nizhny Novgorod region.

The Russian delegation comprised representatives of the Lomonosov Moscow State University Research Computing Center, Central Economic Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of International and Interregional Relations of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the Secretariat of the BRICS STI Framework Programme (Russian Center for Science Information) and the Secretariat of the Russian BRICS STI Council (ICISTE).

Opening the discussion, A.V. Alekhin, Deputy Director of the Digital Development Department of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, emphasized the need for international cooperation to achieve better results: “The BRICS countries have significant scientific and technological potential. Joint developments in the field of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies can contribute to the creation of new products and services that will be in demand globally. I am convinced that the involvement of experts and scientists from the new BRICS member countries will allow us to achieve greater progress in joint research in the field of information and communication technologies and high-performance computing”.

During the event, participants from BRICS countries delivered presentations on national ICT and HPC landscape, recent developments in BRICS countries, relative infrastructure, potential areas for cooperation and many others.

During the meeting, representatives of the BRICS countries identified further action plan and priority areas of mutual interest to be considered for further calls under the BRICS STI Framework Programme. They include design of supercomputers to create effective infrastructure for artificial intelligence, development of large language models and creating apps using artificial intelligence. Moreover, the BRICS countries agreed to promote education in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, participate in national conferences and publish special issues of scientific journals dedicated to joint research projects and initiatives in the field of STI.

Taking into account the rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies and its importance for future innovations, the participants revised the name of the working group and adopted a new one: “BRICS Working Group on High Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence”.