BRICS Statistical Leaders End Lucknow Meet with Joint Statement

The two-day meeting of Heads of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) of BRICS countries concluded in Lucknow on Tuesday with member nations adopting a joint statement to strengthen cooperation in official statistics, digital innovation and data-driven policymaking. Held under the theme "Quality Statistics as a Driver of Change," the event aligned with India's BRICS presidency theme of "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability."

More than 350 participants, including representatives from BRICS national statistical offices, policymakers, academics, think tanks, civil society organisations and technical experts, attended the meeting.

Digital surveys and AI reshape official statistics

A key technical session focused on identifying areas for future BRICS collaboration in statistical innovation. India and Egypt showcased their experiences in modern survey methods and digital data collection.

India presented its transition from paper-based surveys to e-SIGMA (e-Survey Information Gathering and Management Application), a cloud-based Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) platform that supports large-scale sample surveys. Egypt demonstrated how geospatial technologies are improving the production of official statistics.

Delegates also highlighted the growing role of artificial intelligence in survey implementation and the importance of combining administrative records with survey data to improve statistical quality and efficiency.

Countries share roadmap for modern economic statistics

Another technical session examined progress in strengthening macroeconomic and sectoral statistics. India presented its roadmap for adopting the System of National Accounts (SNA) 2025 while explaining how administrative data is being integrated into official statistical systems.

China shared its early experience in implementing the new accounting framework, while Brazil highlighted the use of publicly available online data from e-commerce and digital platforms to complement conventional statistical sources. Indonesia outlined its own transition strategy for SNA 2025 and its adoption of the latest industrial classification standards.

AI-ready public data systems take centre stage

Alongside the main meeting, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), in partnership with the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, organised a side event on building AI-ready public data systems.

Participants from India, South Africa, Russia, Indonesia, China, the UAE and partner organisations discussed ways to strengthen data governance, interoperability, metadata standards and institutional collaboration. The discussions focused on creating trusted, high-quality public data systems capable of supporting responsible artificial intelligence and evidence-based policymaking.

India and Indonesia deepen statistical cooperation

On the sidelines of the meeting, MoSPI and BPS–Statistics Indonesia signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to strengthen cooperation in official statistics, capacity building and technological collaboration.

The agreement covers knowledge sharing, methodological development, human resource training and emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, metadata standardisation and open data.

The meeting concluded with the formal adoption of the BRICS Joint Statement, reinforcing member countries' commitment to developing stronger, more transparent and policy-relevant statistical systems through continued international cooperation.