The 10th BRICS Summit, held in Johannesburg from July 25 to 27, 2018, produced a joint declaration establishing the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR). According to the Johannesburg Declaration, PartNIR aims to deepen cooperation in digitalization, industrialization, innovation, inclusiveness, and investment to address challenges arising from the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Leaders affirmed the value of coordinated BRICS scientific projects aimed at promoting science, technology, and innovation potential as a contribution to combined efforts in addressing Fourth Industrial Revolution challenges. An Advisory Group comprising representatives of BRICS Ministries of Industry was set to develop terms of reference and a work plan aligned with these priorities.
A coordination mechanism for BRICS STI cooperation was developed in 2018 to manage the increasing number of activities and initiatives under the bloc’s science and technology framework. While the declaration did not specifically mention quantum technologies, the establishment of PartNIR and the STI coordination mechanism created the institutional architecture through which quantum cooperation would later be formalized.