How RNP contributes to access to education, research and extension in the rural areas

One of the big purposes of the National Education and Research Network (RNP) is to connect people and institutions in the different regions of Brazil, contributing to the improvement of the quality of education and research and collaborating with the technological, social and economic development of the country . The concept service in the fulfillment of this goal is Rede Ipê, an academic network, present throughout the national territory, with capillarity to serve 4 million people more.

However, the obstacles on the way to democratization of the access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are still part of the reality of thousands of Brazilians and it is not uncommon to see that, in the areas far from the big cities, the offer of Internet is still incipient.  This scenario is called “Digital division” by a specialists in the subject, José Marcos C. Brito, Pro-Director of Postgraduate Studies & Research at the National Telecommunications Institute (Inatel). 

Access to the Internet in the rural areas 

Although bigger part of the Brazilian population is concentrated in big cities (84%), less than 1% of the total area of the country is occupied by urban areas. This was shown in a survey carried out by Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa e Agropecuária (Embrapa) in 2017. The other almost 16% of the population - about 35.2 million people - are part of other statistics of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which points out that 21% of the rural population does not have access to broadband internet. In the rural properties, where agricultural production is the main income activity, the rate is even higher: 71.8% do not have access to the internet. One of the main challenges of the Brazilian agribusiness. 

To stop the digital inequality between the cities and the countryside, the answer may be one of the projects for 2021: 5G internet connection. Yes, in the rural areas. Also in 2020, in the last edition of Forum RNP, the specialist in the topic José Brito highlighted the efforts of Inatel to provide the 5G scenario to remote areas of the country. “We are trying to develop solutions and then influence the standardization bodies to create the scenario we call 5G for remote areas, to take connectivity out of the urban environment and the environment of the big cities, contributing to reduce the digital division in the country and also end what we call digital desert”, Brito explains.

A new scenario after 2020

However, while 5G internet is not a reality throughout the country, the connectivity challenges persist, mainly after the new scenario presented by the new Coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, the need for remote access to the Internet achieved public education to private companies, which faced the “new normal” with social distancing and the interaction which had to be completely digital.

At the tip of the country, in the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul, Embrapa Clima Temperado  in Pelotas, which aims to develop technologies for agro-ecosystems and carries out alternative research in different segments, such as rice and cold-climate fruits, entered into partnership with RNP to enable the continuity of the work on-line, by means of both the internet speed and the Web Conferencing services. “RNP provided a positive dialogue with several institutions in Brazil, access to different research groups, which enabled  interaction, learning and the improvement of the relations between the collaborators, considering that it was a significant gain for the entire community”, Alberi Noronha, analyst of Technology Transfer and Business Communication, Technological Business Management sub-area, points out. 

Rural progress through the digital environment 

Before this reported scenario, in 2018, the inauguration of the Metropolitan Network of Pelotas (Recop), branch of the Program Community Networks for Education and Research  (Redecomep), had already made 55 km of optic fiber extension serving more than 40 buildings of Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel), Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (IFSul), City Hall, as well as Embrapa. 

Thus, the use of high-speed internet became possible in the municipality and the region, making new communication network effective in 2020. “Once Embrapa Clima Temperado alone cannot use these tools, in order to obtain interaction with partners, such as Emater RS, public bodies, and the farmer himself, in this sense, RNP shortened the distance and the time itself, and facilitated the dialogue, which in times of pandemic, would not be feasible ”, Alberi explains.
In addition to bringing partners, servants and the community closer, the access to on-line services was also a way to provide training for the collaborators, as well as scientific progress in different research groups, as  Alberi comments, he is responsible for several research actions, transfer of technology, exchange of knowledge and innovations with family farming populations and indigenous communities in Rio Grande do Sul.  “Thanks to RNP, Embrapa is reaching more common people, where it was not before. In addition, if it were not for RNP, we would not be able to proceed with our thematic centers, discuss and approve projects of social and ecological importance”. 

A day in the countryside on-line 

Know the countryside, on-line? How come? By means of Embrapa's YouTube Channel, more than 6 thousand spectators were able to hold a different field day. In the 15th edition of "Field Day in Agro-ecology and Organic Production - For a healthier society", which was previously attended  in person by 500 participants average, physical barriers were broken by means of on-line transmission via RNP, the first on-line edition. "Although we are not mature about the use of technology, we could experience this possibility and this challenge, taking a local event to different regions and countries over the internet", Alberi celebrates. 

While the physical and the connectivity limitations are still a reason for discussion and improvement in Brazil, RNP continues with its mission to reach more and more new communities, transforming agents and partners by means of technologies and Points of Presence of the Ipê Network, in order to promote the development of the country around teaching, research and extension, in both the countryside and the city. 
Learn more about RNP's Points of Presence and be part of the Ipê Network.