The Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC) and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) sent, on July 22, a letter to the Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC), Gilberto Kassab, expressing concern with budget cuts imposed on the Brazilian National Research and Educational Network (RNP). The document was also sent to the Ministers of Education, Mendonça Filho, of Health, Ricardo Barros, of Culture, Marcelo Calero, and of Defense, Raul Jungmann.

In the letter, institutions request minister Kassab to undertake "every effort to ensure the recovery of the RNP´s budget to the minimum level necessary so that the institution continues to develop and provide services to the entire higher education and CT&I system, with the quality that it has shown so far".

The document emphasizes organization importance, such as the integration of high-speed communication of about 80% of all universities campuses and federal institutes located in the interior, and the impacts suffered by 2015 budget cuts, which resulted in the suspension of new campuses connections. "More than that, from September 2016, 739 interior campuses will be disconnected," they alert.

In the document, SBPC and ABC presidents point out that the cuts also impact the Ministry of Education (MEC), Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Defence (MD), Ministry of Culture (MinC), in addition to the MCTIC itself, "as they are all responsible for maintaining RNP, although MCTIC is the main one financially involved".

"We understand that it is precisely at this moment that we must take great care in order to disrupt programs that support the CT&I and education progress, and that took years to be built, such as RNP´s case", argue SBPC´s president, Helena Nader, and ABC´s president, Luiz Davidovich, in the letter.

See full document here. http://www.sbpcnet.org.br/site/arquivos/arquivo_586.pdf

* From SBPC website