INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN THE BRICS COUNTRIES - COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Information technology is a factor of sustainable economic and social development for both developed and developing countries. In recent years, special attention is given to developing countries with rapidly growing economies and with significant influence on regional and global markets - the BRICS countries. The article presents a comparative analysis of the development of information technologies and its impact on economic growth; the article also analyzes the similarities and peculiarities of IT development in the BRICS countries and state support for the IT sector in these countries. The study is based on comparative analysis and correlation analysis of data. The basis for the study is data from the World Bank, the World Economic Forum (WEF), The Total Economy Database, and other public sources. Information technologies in the BRICS countries are developing quite rapidly, and each country has its peculiarities. It should be noted a significant backlog of India in almost all indexes. In this country, it is necessary to solve the problems with access to technology, at the same time India is a well-known supplier of IT services. Russia has a well developed infrastructure and a high level of education, but it does not make it the leader in the competitiveness and economic development. China is known as a supplier of IT products, and more and more of it is a product of own R&D. South Africa and Brazil are the leaders in the ratio of preparedness of population and companies to use information technology. In all BRICS countries, government is supporting IT industry. Particular attention is given to export support and tax incentives for businesses to make it invest in education. At the moment, the BRICS countries should analyze the experience and the strengths of each other, to be able to implement joint projects in the IT sector and engage private investment.