The 23rd RNP Workshop started this Monday (23) telling the story of an Internet pioneer in Brazil. First Brazilian woman in the Internet Hall of Fame, Liane Tarouco, researcher at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), shared remarkable facts of her career and details of the implementation of the computer network in the country. Iara Machado, RNP's Director of Research, Development and Innovation, led the conversation and highlighted the contributions of the WRNP keynote speaker to Brazilian computing. “It's really cool to know your story, because you're an inspiration to all of us”, she said.

Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Informatics in Education at UFRGS, Liane develops research in immersive virtual worlds, experiential learning, active methodologies and mobile learning, as well as management in computer networks. During the interview, she reminisced about her religious upbringing in a small town, at a historic time of space exploration and innovation. Her creativity and willingness to put ideas into practice led to the dream of working with science and technology. “I liked challenges, that's what characterized me. These challenges made me step into a distinctly masculine environment and move forward”, she said.

To researchers who want to work in the area, Liane advised that they see failures as opportunities. “We have to be prepared to face mistakes, because mistakes are the best way to learn”. The researcher commented on her role in the implementation of networks in Brazil, which earned her the nomination to the Internet Hall of Fame in 2021. “I participated in the history of networks in the country. In 1989, when Fapesp started connecting the first networks, I was already working on it. When RNP started to have an institutional life, thanks to CNPq, I participated in the first technical committee. These people were taking the first steps in the history of networks”, she said.

Morning schedule had sessions on NasNuvens portal and RNP Testbeds

The “Research, Development and Innovation Challenges” panel was led by Iara Machado and by RNP's cyberinfrastructure R&D manager, Marcos Schwarz, portraying the history and evolution of RNP. They commented on the obstacles to be faced for the future, such as the training of human resources and innovations in infrastructure, in addition to networking and the search for new partnerships.

Mediated by André Marins (RNP), “The Future is in the Clouds” brought together Luiz Eduardo de Souza Coelho, deputy director of services at the Services and Solutions Department (DSS), and Igor Coutinho de Moraes, senior business analyst at DSS. They presented the NasNuvens portal, a 100% cloud solution focused on the research and education segment. The platform is a cloud services broker, which allows institutions to find the features that best fit their Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) demands.

The morning program also included the session “RNP Testbeds: Boosting Experimental Research in ICTs in FAPESP projects”, moderated by RNP's R&D coordinator Gustavo Dias. The lecture had as guests researcher Tereza Cristina Carvalho, from the University of São Paulo (USP), Michele Nogueira, from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and Cristiano Bonato Both, from the University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), who presented projects developed with the support and technical support of RNP. Namely Slicing Future Internet Infrastructures (SFI2), Mentored and Smart 5G Core and MUltiRAn Integration (SAMURAI).