Based on the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Development Index of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), this chapter proposes a new version of ICT/Digital Development Index. Since 2007, great improvement has been achieved in the development of information technology and digital economy in BRICS countries, four of which have approached the intermediate level in this regard among the G20 countries. Among the BRICS countries, Russia has the highest ICT access index, while China, India and South Africa also have significant improvement in this field; China’s ICT application index has nearly quadrupled, and others have also improved much in ICT application field. As for ICT skills, more than 90% of citizens in Russia, China and South Africa are equipped to use or communicate on the Internet, and more than 85% of Brazil also have achieved this. In BRICS, Russia has always been at the forefront in the ICT development, followed by China, South Africa and Brazil, while India still has a certain gap with the other four countries. Compared with 2007, the average ICT/Digital Development Index (IDI) value of the BRICS countries considerably narrowed the gap with G20 average level in 2020, mainly attributed to the booming Internet roll-out and penetration. According to the analysis, the evolution of IDI index shows strong correlation with the number of related SCI and non-SCI papers in WOS (excluding 2020), and the number of patents in Brazil, Russia and India also has the correlation with their IDI index value (excluding 2020). However, there is weak correlation with IDI and average GDP values in Brazil, Russia, and South Africa.
