TEHRAN – Iran's representative at the BRICS Future Network Innovation Forum 2026, held in Shenzhen from June 16 to 17, proposed the establishment of a cooperation framework for the BRICS Plus partnership to develop future digital infrastructure, strengthen industrial cooperation, and promote cross-border interactions among member states.

Delivering a speech, titled ‘From connectivity to reliable computing power networks; enabling shared digital growth, industrial cooperation, and transboundary interactions’, Mohammad-Hossein Sheikhi, an official with the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), outlined Iran’s views and proposals in developing future digital infrastructure, ISNA reported.

“Connectivity, network coverage, and bandwidth are essential for digital development, but meeting emerging needs requires an approach that goes beyond traditional network development,” the official said.

The expansion of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), industrial Internet of Things (IoT), smart logistics, smart energy systems, modern financial technologies, and digital platforms requires integrated, smart, and reliable infrastructures, he stressed.

Expounding on the concept of trusted computing power network, Sheikhi said future networks should not be simply seen as a data transmission platform, but should serve as an infrastructure for connecting networks, providing computing power, ensuring secure data flow, promoting digital trust, supporting industrial applications, and enabling interactive ecosystems.

Highlighting Iran’s capacities in energy, transportation, ICT, financial technologies, and cyber security fields as well as the country’s growing scientific and academic capabilities, the official voiced Iran’s readiness to play an effective, constructive, and operational role as a regional and technological partner in BRICS Plus joint agenda to develop future digital networks.

BRICS Plus partnership will serve as a practical platform for cooperation among interested countries, research centers, universities, industries, and technological partners. The cooperation framework will be centered around ‘reliable infrastructure’, ‘industrial value creation’, ‘interactions, standards and digital trusts’, and pave the way for the development of joint efforts in evolving technologies, Sheikhi further noted.

The official went on to say that BRICS Plus cooperation should move beyond exchanging views and reports and lead to implementing joint projects, setting up test beds, developing technical learning, industrial applications, and cooperation.

Guided by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of China, the BRICS Future Network Innovation Forum 2026 convened at the Wuzhou Guest House in Shenzhen.

The forum was co-hosted by the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), and the BRICS Institute of Future Networks.
 

MT/MG