BRICS for an Innovative South

1. BRICS for an Innovative South K J Joseph

2. Overview • The context • Two dimensions of SSC • Reemergence of SSC and their limits • The way forward

3. The Context Prior to the current era of globalization he SSC has been a popular development strategy But that was a period wherein the South was more homogenous With the formation of WTO, SSC seems to have taken the backseat  But the outcomes of globalization have been unequally distributed

4. The Context Over the years select developing countries have accumulated significant technological capabilities in select sectors and emerged as major economic powers Hence SSC as a development strategy is more relevant today than ever before

5. Two dimensions of SSC Horizontal and Vertical Horizontal cooperation refers to harnessing cooperation among BRICS to furthering and sustaining the innovation capabilities of each of the countries Scope for such cooperation arises because • BRICS countries are not strangers • Common development challenges • The capability that they have developed are complementary in nature

6. Two Dimensions of Cooperation • Vertical cooperation • Cooperation between BRICS countries and the less developed countries • The less developed countries could take advantage of the development solutions available in BRICS

7. Reemergence of SSC and their limits • SSC at the instance of regional integration initiatives is increasing  • Mercosur, SACU, ASEAN, SAFTA and BIMSTEC are some of the examples • Initiatives at harnessing new technologies with in SSC framework • E-ASEAN framework agreement – ASEAN help ASEAN • But there are certain limits

8. A Plausible way forwardCase of IT and software • Scope for an e-South framework agreement at the instance of BRICS • Similar initiatives are plausible in all the other areas where the BRICS have accumulated stock of knowledge innovation capability