On the second day of the 2022 RNP Forum, the executive director of ITS.Rio, Ronaldo Lemos, gave a relaxed and light lecture - but with alerts for Brazil in the area of innovation and knowledge economy. The keynote speaker presented many photos of his exploratory wanderings around the world to draw parallels and point out paths for the country. 

Challenged by the organization of the Forum to predict the future of the internet, Lemos reflected on the difficulty of the exercise. “I'm always on the back foot with futurism. Technology involves a lot of complexity and information asymmetry. Each one looks to one side, it is difficult to predict what will be relevant”, he said. 

To prove his fear, the director of ITS.Rio cited examples of successful businessmen who failed in trying to guess the next step. In the 19th century, William Orton, the first president of Western Union, for example, said that the telephone was a toy that would not be relevant. At the time, his company specialized in telegraphs. 

Next, Lemos traced a short journey of telecommunications over the last few decades, seeking to show where we came from and where we are going. 

From the academic network to the internet of things

The expert recalled the emergence of the internet, in the 1960s, when it only connected machines. He declared himself a big fan of RNP and highlighted the institution's role in the implementation of the first network in Brazil, in the 1990s, at the time to connect only academic institutions. Then, with the advent of the commercial internet, the network also started to connect people. Now, Lemos says that we are already living in the age of the internet of things (IoT). “All things”, he stressed. “From small to large, from fans to microwaves, through electricity grids, transport systems and industrial plants. The IoT has extraordinary potential, it is something that generates a lot of value”, he added. Lemos recalled that he was one of the formulators of the National Internet of Things Plan, a milestone created to help Brazil in the sector. 

The specialist, who arrived just two days ago from the African continent, showed images of his trips to China and countries on the African continent, where he recorded episodes of the series “Future Express”. He stated that the Asian country is an example of technological evolution in just 40 years - a trajectory that can serve as an inspiration to Brazil. “The pillars of this transformation are artificial intelligence, internet of things, big data and cloud computing”, he listed. 

Regarding Africa, he said he was impressed with the degree of innovation in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya: “They have been using a digital payment system, M-Pesa, since 2007. Our PIX was only implemented two years ago”. No wonder the region became known as the Silicon Savannah. Lemos also said that an African brand, Transsion, developed a cell phone with cameras suitable for photographing black people, since Western devices are formatted to record white individuals.  

“I saw a lot of the future, which increases Brazil's sense of responsibility to take advantage of opportunities. We cannot stay behind. We need to stop being just consumers and become producers of technology and innovation. We have a lot of work ahead of us, ”he said to end his talk.

Watch the full speech by Ronaldo Lemos here.

Internet pioneers in Brazil tell challenges and stories

If Ronaldo Lemos projected the future of communications, the panel “30 years of internet in Brazil” brought pioneers of the construction of the first national backbone to remember the challenges of the time. The relaxed conversation was mediated by Marcello Frutig, executive coordinator for Strategy Management at RNP.

30 years ago, on the occasion of Rio-92, the first internet network was installed connecting 10 capitals and the Federal District abroad, with infrastructure implemented by RNP. 

Saliel Figueira Filho, who was then working at the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analysis (Ibase), said that the articulations for the creation of the network began a few years before the event. “In 1990, the most advanced articulation of what the internet would be began. Alternex [the first network access provider in Brazil] already existed, based on a message system between machines, based on an interface developed by a team in California”, said Figueira Filho, who now works at Claro. 

Carlos Campana, at the time a researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), reported on the expansion of the network across the country. “Each day a new institution entered the network, and we saw the change happening right away. When connectivity arrived, researchers immediately started talking to their peers”, said Campana, currently at Amazon Web Services (AWS). 

There was also room for unusual stories. Marcello Frutig recalled when he participated in the installation of the internet network at Palácio do Planalto, in Brasília. It was his first time in the federal capital. Young and unaware of high-ranking government protocols, he arrived without a jacket for work. The way was to wear the uniform of the building maintenance team to get authorization to enter. "Unfortunately, it belonged to someone a little thinner than me. Despite the unusual situation, it was really an incredible experience", he recalled, causing laughter from the other participants.

Beatriz Zoss praised the role of women in the process. “I joined RNP at the time of ECO-92. I represent the most feminine part, which supported, along with so many others, this structure, and helped us to do this”, pointed out RNP's Customer Relations manager.

Today at Dell, Wagner Ikeda worked at RNP in the 1990s. He was part of the team of Tadao Takahashi, one of the founders of the institution, who passed away in April of this year. Ikeda remembers being “amazed” when he received his first e-mail. And he never ceases to be surprised by the advances in the area. “Today I have 600 MB/s in my house. It is an exponential growth that we see in all areas related to communications”, highlighted the computer engineer.

See more stories from the pioneers of the Internet in Brazil by watching this panel in its entirety.