Knowledge as raw material: why education and science are becoming foundation of future economy

India’s record: a gateway to a new reality

On 28 April 2026, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry published data showing that the country’s total exports of goods and services reached US$860.09 billion in 2025, marking a year-on-year increase of 4.22 per cent. Against this backdrop, the government set a target of reaching US$2 trillion in exports of goods and services by 2030.

Sectors contributing to export growth include mechanical engineering, electronics, pharmaceuticals and the chemical industry. Of the total figure, US$441.78 billion came from goods exports, while US$418.31 billion came from services exports. Within the latter, IT and business services dominate, accounting for 55 per cent of the services component – a category directly linked to technological and engineering competencies.

A February trade review by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) notes the country’s transition from assembly operations to the production of components and more technologically complex goods.

India’s experience reflects a broader structural shift taking place in the global economy. According to a report by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the world is entering an economic cycle in which the main resource is the ability to monetise knowledge through technology, exports and industry.

In this context, education and science are no longer merely tools for training personnel but are becoming mechanisms for creating technology, as the main share of added value is generated not at the stage of raw material extraction or mass assembly but at the stage of technological development, design and management of intelligent systems.

BRICS countries form the world’s largest concentration of human capital, bringing together around 40 per cent of the global population. However, within the group, different approaches are emerging to transforming knowledge and scientific potential into economic growth.

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From raw materials to knowledge: structural shift and its drivers

According to China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, in 2025 state-owned enterprises invested 1.1 trillion yuan (approximately US$162.3 billion) in research and development and innovation under experimental development projects, reports the Xinhua News Agency, a TV BRICS partner. The share of revenue reinvested in R&D stood at 2.86 per cent. This indicator reflects a key structural shift: the economy is gradually moving towards models based on technology, research and intellectual property.

The key driver of this shift, according to Valery Abramov, an expert in global economics and integration processes of BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), is the change in technological paradigms and the adoption of NBICS technologies.

“NBICS technologies refer to nano-, bio-, information, cognitive and socio-humanitarian technologies. They make it possible to accelerate the creation of new technologies, help generate new markets, including in BRICS countries, and improve the quality of life of the population,” he stated.

A patent is becoming a more valuable asset than a factory: profit is increasingly generated not in production but in development. As a result, competition between economies is gradually shifting from control over raw materials to the ability to monetise intellectual property. According to WIPO, in 2024 China filed 1.795 million patent applications, remaining the global leader by a wide margin.

At the domestic level, India has taken the lead in the innovation race: according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in the 2025–2026 financial year, the number of patent applications reached a record 143,723, up 30.2 per cent year on year, ANI reports, a TV BRICS partner.

Russia, according to the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent), filed 48,327 applications for inventions and utility models in 2025, while the number of patents introduced into economic circulation increased by 25 per cent, reaching 6,000.

Brazil, according to the national patent and trademark office, recorded a historic high in 2025: 29,557 patent applications, up 6.7 per cent – the best result since 2016 – while industrial design applications increased by 35.7 per cent.

Thus, the role of intellectual input in value creation continues to grow, patent activity is becoming an important economic indicator, and automation is increasing the importance of engineering, analytical and digital competencies. At the same time, the transformation of global supply chains is encouraging states to localise strategically important technologies, turning knowledge into an element of technological sovereignty. For BRICS countries, this means that the speed of adaptation of education systems is becoming not a social issue but a macroeconomic factor directly affecting growth rates.

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Why investment in education does not automatically lead to growth

The scale of investment in science and education within BRICS ranges from 2.6 per cent of GDP to 0.7 per cent. This creates zones of fundamentally different innovation readiness. The barrier lies in the gap between educational potential and technological demand: in a resource-based industrial structure, growth in STEM graduates does not lead to comparable growth in non-resource exports. Without technological demand, education does not become a mechanism for monetising knowledge but remains merely a pool of human resources.

Valery Abramov identifies three stages of this process. The first is the resource stage: knowledge serves raw material sectors. The second is efficient resource use: mass vocational and higher education is required. “The third stage is an innovation economy in which the main contribution to development comes from knowledge and human capital itself, and the main income from international trade for such countries comes from the sale of industrial and intellectual property,” the expert notes.

A key condition for transitioning to the next stage is the direct alignment of education with industry needs. Raymond Matlala, founder and chairman of the South African BRICS Youth Association and an expert in business, education and the Global South, emphasises: “Universities, technical institutes, and businesses must work together to ensure graduates have practical skills aligned with the needs of the modern economy.”

Artificial intelligence is accelerating polarisation. The premium on design and data analysis skills is rising sharply, while the value of standardised labour is declining. The International Labour Organisation notes a structural paradox: in BRICS countries, AI is automating office jobs before they have had a chance to form a stable middle class.

Abed Amiri, representative of BRICS Hub and an expert in economic and technological cooperation within BRICS, digital transformation and the use of AI in business, describes the shift as follows: “In India and the Philippines, call centre employees who previously handled phone calls are now managing chatbots and intelligent services. If education systems do not adapt, the gap between skills and market requirements will only continue to grow.”

At the same time, Amiri notes that professions based on repetitive tasks (data entry, basic accounting) are losing relevance. Demand is growing for analytical thinking, creativity and decision-making.

“Artificial intelligence specialists and software developers are becoming highly paid because they not only use technology but also create it,” Abed Amiri stated.

Education becomes a productive force only in the presence of technological demand. Without it, even a multiple increase in graduates does not expand non-resource exports but merely subsidises economies where such demand already exists. Educational potential on its own is a necessary but insufficient component of economic growth.

Models within BRICS

China demonstrates an integrated model in which science, production and exports form a unified system with a high share of high-tech exports and a developed R&D infrastructure. The PRC has built a system in which knowledge is monetised through industry, patents, and exports of technological products.

A significant share of research is concentrated in the corporate sector. As reported by Xinhua News Agency, a TV BRICS partner, there are 474 state-level R&D platforms in the country, with 1.44 million people employed in research and development. China is actively implementing compulsory licensing mechanisms and establishing OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) enterprises, turning it into a net exporter of technology and patents within BRICS.

According to Valery Abramov, China’s R&D expenditure has more than doubled over the past 20 years, reaching around 2.6 per cent of GDP.

India relies on mass training of engineering personnel and the export of services with a high share of intellectual added value. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, IT services exports in the 2025–26 financial year made a decisive contribution to record service exports. Additional catalysts include technology hubs and government programmes to stimulate electronics manufacturing.

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Russia, Brazil, South Africa, and Egypt share a common challenge: strong scientific schools are not being converted into large-scale technology exports. However, the barriers differ from country to country.

Russia shows an institutional gap: high research density and 48,327 patent applications coexist with a low share of licensed technologies – the issue is not personnel but a lack of bridges between science and industry.

Brazil faces a structural gap: its largest export items are crude oil, soybeans, iron ore, frozen beef and coffee, while it still has a record deficit in high-tech goods trade.

South Africa is experiencing a decline in its science and technology resource base. According to the South African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators 2025 report, R&D expenditure has fallen to 0.61 per cent of GDP, while business contributions to science are shrinking.

Raymond Matlala, founder and chairman of the South African BRICS Youth Association, outlines the necessary conditions for retaining talent in Africa: “Africa, including South Africa, must create ecosystems that make it attractive for engineers, researchers and IT specialists to build their future locally. This includes competitive salaries, investment in research and innovation, improved working conditions, access to modern technologies and clear career pathways.”

Egypt is implementing a national cybersecurity strategy running until 2027 but still faces an infrastructure gap – a lack of foundations for scaling innovation.

At the same time, even in countries with the most acute barriers, alternative channels of knowledge monetisation are emerging. As Amiri notes, "In many African countries, fintech startups use artificial intelligence to provide financial services to people who previously had no access to the banking system” – digital ecosystems are beginning to monetise human capital where traditional industry does not.

The UAE and Indonesia are implementing an investment-led infrastructure leap model. These countries do not yet have a strong scientific base but are investing in building one. The UAE is investing in cryptography and blockchain infrastructure. In 2025, Khalifa University received 60 patents, increasing its total by approximately 173 per cent over two years.

Indonesia is developing a digital ID system and telecommunications infrastructure – these areas were set out in the Digital Indonesia Roadmap (2021–2024) and remain a priority in the new planning period up to 2029.

Ethiopia is implementing a strategic start model from the lowest base among BRICS countries, relying on the long-term Digital Ethiopia strategy, which has entered the next phase of the country’s digital transformation with a horizon to 2030.

Fragmentation of chains and new sovereignty

The gap between BRICS countries is being reinforced by the global trend towards supply chain fragmentation. The ability to independently develop and produce technologies is becoming as important a condition of sovereignty as control over energy. A telling example is India: in 2026, construction began on the country’s first OSAT facility for 3D chip packaging in Bhubaneswar, with a total investment of INR 20 billion (approximately US$210 million).

At the same time, a semiconductor laboratory is being established at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bhubaneswar to train engineers.

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Forecast: a new hierarchy of the Global South

Experts believe that in the short term, competition for engineers and researchers within BRICS will intensify. States are already introducing mechanisms to retain talent through tax incentives for companies engaged in fundamental research, grant programmes for startups and technology hubs based at universities. In the medium term, patent activity, the share of high-tech exports and the ability to monetise knowledge through technology, exports and control over value chains will increasingly determine the balance of power within BRICS.

Economies that create technologies accumulate the bulk of added value. Countries dependent on raw materials or acting as production sites receive a significantly smaller share of global income and become dependent on external technological centres.

At the same time, different development logics persist within BRICS. Raymond Matlala offers an alternative view based on cooperation rather than competition.

“I do not believe there is necessarily negative competition between member states for engineers, researchers and IT specialists. Instead, BRICS countries should place greater emphasis on cooperation, partnership and structured skills transfer programmes. The focus should be on collective development and shared growth rather than competition for talent,” he emphesised.

However, as Abed Amiri argues, even with the closest cooperation, the global trend cannot be reversed. The gap between technology creators and consumers will continue to widen.

“In the future, competition will not be about natural resources but about the ability to create and commercialise knowledge. Investment in education, science and innovation is becoming a key condition for closing this gap,” Amiri concludes.

The role of raw materials and physical production is declining because in today’s economy most value is created at the stage of technological development, design and management of intelligent systems rather than extraction. Investment in R&D and exports of technological services are becoming new indicators of economic strength.

Knowledge is becoming a full-fledged factor of production alongside labour and capital. However, the decisive factor is not the level of education itself but the ability of the state to integrate human capital into production and export chains. Experts argue that in the next economic cycle, those countries that succeed in building a continuous system – from the university classroom and research laboratory to industrial implementation and the global market – will gain a structural advantage. Education and science are becoming not just the foundation of the future economy – they are becoming the economy itself.

The material was prepared by Vakhit Niyazov.