Minister of Regional Integration and Development calls for public policies that encourage the production of truly Amazonian knowledge 

When beginning his participation in the panel on the Amazon at the RNP Forum, the Minister of Integration and Regional Development, Waldez Góes, made it clear that he would speak not only as a member of the federal government and former governor of Amapá, but mainly as an “Amazon caboclo”, son of extractivists from the region. 

Góes, who chaired the Amazônia Legal interstate consortium when he was governor, highlighted the importance of public policies aimed at producing truly Amazonian knowledge. “It is important to put indigenous people, quilombolas, extractivists, riverside dwellers and settlers first”, stated the minister.

The minister also highlighted the role of RNP in this context, as an institution capable of supporting the consolidation of connectivity in the Amazon, such as through the Norte Conectado Program, so that the knowledge produced can be accessed by everyone. “All of this is expensive, but it is even more expensive for the Amazon to be left without well-defined models for development projects”, warned Góes. 

The panel was mediated by RNP's relationship manager, Rafael Pontes Lima. Also participating were the director-president of the Fapesp Technical-Administrative Council, Carlos Américo Pacheco, and Patrícia Ellen, partner-president of the consultancy Systemiq and former secretary of Economic Development, Science and Technology of São Paulo.

Pacheco echoed the minister and came out in defense of dissemination policies that practically improve the lives of the 20 million inhabitants of the Amazon region. According to him, Fapesp participates in Amazônia+10, now expanded to Amazônia+25, an initiative to support scientific research and the technological and sustainable development of the forest. 

Patrícia Ellen applauded the ecological transition plan being studied by the Ministry of Finance. For Patrícia, the initiative has all the potential to unite science, technology and innovation with productivity, combating inequalities and climate change.

Inpe develops new unified model for weather forecasting

Earlier, also in Arena I, prof. Dr. Saulo Freitas, one of the keynote speakers at the RNP Forum, presented MONAN, the Community Model of the Unified Earth System, which has been developed by the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) since 2021. 

Coordinator of the scientific committee of the MONAN, Freitas explained how supercomputers, artificial intelligence and machine learning are being used to develop the new model, which promises greater reliability and accuracy for forecasting weather, climate and the environment in the country. 

One of the main differences of MONAN, whose development project is expected to last 10 years, is the fact that it is a unique model for the entire country. This, according to Freitas, will enable considerable advances in terms of the quality of meteorological information. He also said that the acronym MONAN, “Model for Ocean, LaNd and Atmosphere PredictioN”, was not chosen by chance: in Tupi-Guarani, the word means “land without evil”.  

“We have for the first time in the country a community that is focused, organized and seriously committed to placing the country at the forefront of scientific and technological knowledge, increasingly providing Brazilian society with information that effectively saves lives, reduces economic losses and allows for planning in the long term of the different sectors of the economy”, concluded Freitas.