The Indian National Science Academy (INSA), under India’s BRICS Presidency 2026, convened the inaugural meeting of the BRICS Science Academies Forum 2026. Held virtually, the forum centered on the theme “Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development and Strengthening Global South Cooperation.” The session served as a high-level preparatory platform for science academies representing ten member and partner nations to construct a collaborative roadmap for responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) deployment. The primary focus of the forum remains bridging the sharp digital divide between developed nations and the Global South while channeling AI capacities toward addressing critical scientific and developmental bottlenecks.
Objectives and Focus Areas
Bridging the AI Divide
The forum addresses the unequal distribution of computing power and AI infrastructure globally. By establishing South-South cooperation networks, the participating nations intend to democratize access to AI tools, preventing the concentration of technological capabilities in a few Western economies.
Accelerating Scientific Discovery
The joint framework aims to deploy AI as a core instrument to catalyze scientific breakthroughs. Key focus sectors include materials science, targeted drug development, climate modeling, advanced engineering, and agricultural optimization.
Ensuring Technological Sovereignty
The collaboration emphasizes open-source frameworks and localized data control. This collective approach helps member states retain domestic governance over their data assets while resisting foreign monopoly over foundational AI models.
Country-Specific Recommendations and Strategic Priorities
Asian and Eurasian Inputs
- China (Chinese Academy of Sciences): Called for the creation of joint AI readiness benchmarks, structured scientific data-sharing frameworks, and open-source infrastructure. It emphasized building responsible AI evaluation mechanisms to eliminate systemic bias and improve model reliability.
- Russia & Belarus: Focused heavily on data security, robust cybersecurity protocols, and deploying responsible AI solutions within healthcare innovation and advanced diagnostic systems.
- Vietnam: Proposed the creation of dedicated joint task forces, specialized thematic working groups, and a shared Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) backed by joint training initiatives to eliminate the AI skill deficit.
- Indonesia: Emphasized the practical integration of AI into disaster risk management, climate mitigation strategies, automated early warning systems, and greenhouse gas reduction models.
African and Middle Eastern Inputs
- Egypt: Advocated for increased capital investment in AI research and capacity building, specifically targeting applications in food security, public education, energy management, and healthcare distribution.
- Ethiopia: Focused on establishing strict digital safety protocols, cross-border cybersecurity coordination, and expanding high-level university-to-university research partnerships.
- Nigeria: Highlighted the implementation of AI applications to improve national governance metrics, scientific innovation, and domestic development priorities.
- South Africa: Urged the adoption of completely open-source AI models to manage implementation costs and emphasized the integration of humanities and social sciences to monitor the societal impacts of AI.
Key Outcomes and Consensus Themes
Shared Digital Architecture
The ten nations achieved consensus on pooling resources to build shared computing infrastructure and open data ecosystems. This includes developing energy-efficient data centers to reduce the heavy carbon footprint associated with training large-scale AI architectures.
Task-Oriented and Multilingual Models
Beyond generic Large Language Models (LLMs), the forum prioritized developing specialized, smaller, task-oriented industrial AI models. These models are critical for high-consequence domains where analytical precision is vital. Additionally, the development of multilingual AI resources was formalized to serve diverse regional populations without language barriers.
Finalization Timeline
The recommendations gathered during this virtual session are being integrated into a comprehensive draft declaration. The second session of the forum will take place in person on July 22-23, 2026, at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad, where member states will finalize and sign the official declaration on AI for Sustainable Development.
IASPOINT Booster Facts for UPSC
- BRICS Expansion: Originally consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the bloc expanded significantly in 2024. The 2026 meeting saw participation from ten nations including new members and partners like Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
- India’s 2026 Presidency Theme: India leads the BRICS chairship in 2026 under the central theme: “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”
- INSA Profile: The Indian National Science Academy, located in New Delhi, was established in January 1935 as the National Institute of Sciences of India (NISI) before being renamed in 1970. It acts as the apex body of Indian scientists representing all branches of science and technology.
- Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Framework: India’s push for DPI at the forum leverages its domestic success with the “India Stack” (Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker), presenting it as an open-source model for global governance and technology deployment.
- AI Carbon Footprint: Training a single large AI model can emit over 300,000 kilograms of CO2 equivalent, making the forum’s focus on “energy-efficient data centers” a critical component of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 (Climate Action).