The partnership between RNP and Embrapa dates back a long time, the 1990s to be more precise, and was formalized in 2012. But how, exactly, does this partnership work? What advantages does this union bring to the production of research and innovation in agriculture in Brazil? 

Embrapa is a user organization of the RNP System, which means that it is part of a Brazilian cyberinfrastructure focused on education, research and innovation, which works with teaching, research and health institutions; cultural institutes; development agencies and innovation environments, such as technology parks and centers, spread throughout the country. 

In addition, it benefits from a secure infrastructure, with high capacity and performance for data transmission: the Ipê Network and connectivity from the Point of Presence (place where connections arrive), existing in each Federative Unit of Brazil. But the package of services offered is vast and goes far beyond access to high-speed internet. 

By joining the RNP System, Embrapa and its units gained the opportunity to participate in local metropolitan network consortia. The consortia bring together institutions with common objectives - research and higher education -, making it possible to share the cyber-infrastructure offered by RNP and its maintenance costs. The model thus allows for resource savings and excellence in IT services.  

The public company is also part of the Federated Academic Community (CAFe), which corresponds to a federation of national academic identity created to facilitate access to specific network services, not only those offered by RNP such as, for example, the well-known Portal de Periódicos(Journal Portal) from Capes. Furthermore, as CAFe is part of an international service called eduGAIN, Embrapa users have access to more than 3,000 web services offered by European institutions.  

By joining CAFe, the organization makes its user base available for recognition by other institutions. In practice, through a single account, Embrapa employees are free to access, wherever they are, the services of their own institution and those offered by other organizations that participate in the federation.  
 
Another advantage is being able to rely on eduroam. A secure wireless access network operated in Brazil by RNP and which allows the researcher or employee to connect, in a safe and transparent way, to wifi networks of other teaching and research institutions in Brazil and abroad.  

In Brazil, there are more than 180 institutions; and in the world there are more than 100 countries with numerous access points inside and outside university campuses. The eduroam network in Brazil is the largest in the world in terms of places where the service can be accessed, which corresponds to more than 3,500 different locations spread across the national territory.  

 
The list of services available to Embrapa also includes:  

• Web Conference: ideal for meetings, allowing the sending of access invitations, recording and use of up to 10 virtual rooms simultaneously;  
• fone@RNP: it allows free telephone calls to be made, with an unlimited number of virtual extensions, generating savings for the institution;  
• ICPEdu: public key infrastructure for education and research, providing digital certificates for both users and websites;  
• Filesender@RNP: service that makes it possible to exchange large files, up to 2Tb, reliably in a single submission. Documents are available for up to 20 days; 
• Eduplay: platform that resembles the well-known YouTube and offers live broadcasts, television programs, exclusive channels, video lessons, radios and podcasts;  
• NasNuvens: a web environment in which the organization can choose and use the services offered by RNP and its partners that best suit their needs. 

In addition to these, Embrapa has the constant support of the Security Incident Response Center (CAIS) and the availability of the 24x7 Service Desk, that is, RNP teams on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week.