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BRICS think tanks agree to create digital diplomacy: S. African expert

Xinhua, May 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

Think tanks from the five BRICS countries -- Brazil, India, China, Russia and South Africa, have agreed to come up with a road map to create digital diplomacy.

This merged from the just ended BRICS digital conference which was held in New Delhi, India on April 28-29, Sandiso Ngcobo, who joined a South African think tank delegation to the conference, said on Monday.

BRICS think tanks had gathered to find a common ground in addressing the regulation of cyber space and shared skills, Ngcobo told Xinhua upon return from India.

Despite different cultural, political and economic backgrounds, the BRICS think tanks have found common ground in main issues, said Ngcobo, who is also a lecturer at South Africa's Mangosuthu University of Technology.

"I am happy with what happened in India. We managed to exchange knowledge and skills. We discussed how the internet could be used to address socioeconomic challenges and we agreed in those aspects," he said.

The BRICS think tanks also addressed the issue of language barriers, taking into account that information in BRICS countries is mostly communicated in English, thereby leaving many outside, Ngcobo said.

They also agreed to address gender imbalance and empower women by elevating them to powerful positions, he said.

"We reached a common ground to regulate cyberspace. We know that we have different cultures, and different political and government structures. We want to use technology to address social economic challenges and make it inclusive," Ngcobo said.

This would help harmonize cyber space to promote international trade and e-commerce, he added.

"We know China have Alibaba who have been in the game for some time. We want to find ways to trade online like South African purchasing goods in China through the internet. We want to find ways to e-commerce and purchase goods easily and promote trade," he said.

The think tanks also agreed to cooperate to achieve economic inclusion after noting that some of their citizens are not have access to the economy, according to Ngcobo.

The BRICS think tanks will meet in India again in October this year prior to a political leadership meeting. Enditem