BRICS: comparative analysis of the scientific and technological potential for innovation of the member countries

Abstract

The BRICS countries ( Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are the largest emerging markets that are undergoing processes of modernisation and economic restructuring and that occupy the top positions on the regional scale, surpassing in many indicators those of the global level. This paper presents an analysis and interpretation of the results of the BRICS countries’ positions in four global indices of science and technology activities that have a direct impact on their innovation capabilities, providing a comparison of the performance of each of the five countries. Finally, a comparison of the performance between the BRICS and Venezuela is presented.