Stanley Oliveira, a computer science researcher, took over management of Embrapa Digital Agriculture (Campinas-SP) last Tuesday (1st). After a selection process, he was appointed by the Company's executive board to occupy the position of general head of the Unit for a two-year term, extendable twice for the same period.
Carla Macário, in the Research and Development area, Vitor Mondo, in Technology Transfer, and Eduardo Caputi, in the administrative area, were also appointed to the positions of deputy chiefs. The new manager replaces researcher Silvia Massruhá, who has been in charge of the research center since July 2015.
Digital technologies have already been adopted on various scales and play a fundamental role in the development of Brazilian agriculture. For Stanley Oliveira, digital agriculture has the potential to help the sector face a scenario with major challenges, such as expanding food production in a sustainable way, also meeting demands for fiber, water and clean and renewable energy, and enabling production systems with low impact on natural resources, biodiversity and generation of environmental services.
“It is necessary to increase the supply of quality digital services, with data security throughout the national territory and solutions for managing and monitoring animal and plant production, in addition to organizing data into structured and reliable bases that enable the development of models and applications using artificial intelligence, geotechnologies and the internet of things”, he highlights.
According to the new chief general, prioritizing solutions that alleviate the real pains and needs of rural producers is a key factor. It also highlights the importance of partnership with the production sector for the development of technologies that generate tangible benefits and impact for the farmer and, also, alignment with the best practices adopted by corporations, based on sustainable criteria such as ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance).
“We will identify demands with partners in the innovation ecosystem in digital agriculture and analyze their adherence to Embrapa’s VII Master Plan. These demands can be characterized in disruptive, integrative and intelligent solutions; digital platforms with applications for property, production and marketing management; future risk projection systems; and technologies for traceability and certification,” he says.
According to the general manager, to effectively respond to these challenges it will be essential to maintain the active participation of Embrapa Digital Agriculture in solid arrangements with the participation of the government, academia, the productive sector and civil society.
“These strengthened and expanded relationships will allow the insertion and expansion of digital technologies in agriculture, in a transversal way, as enablers of high-impact results. Open innovation is in Embrapa’s DNA and this joint action will allow it to continue delivering value to society.”
The work plan of the new head of Embrapa Digital Agriculture is based on four main axes. In the strategic management of RD&I, among other actions, the monitoring of the life cycle of digital technologies, the strengthening of the Digital Agriculture Observatory and the promotion of international partnerships are planned.
“Our expectation is to intensify international coordination actions to identify, abroad, centers of excellence in areas of interest and seek opportunities for collaboration and participation in research networks in our area of activity”, states Stanley Oliveira.
A second strategic axis is focused on digital transformation and integration with other Embrapa Units, including the promotion of mentoring programs, linked for example to the AgroAPI Platform, the creation of technological workshops with a mindset focused on disruption, support for governance of research data and sharing services through the scientific data center.
The plan also includes the axis aimed at expanding the vision of open innovation and business with the productive sector, strengthening the Unit's participation in the digital agriculture ecosystem and the search for partnerships for the development of technological solutions; and, finally, the axis for governance, management and organizational innovation, with emphasis on institutional and skills development.
At Embrapa since 1989, Stanley Oliveira has a degree and master's degree in Computer Science from the Federal University of Campina Grande and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Alberta, in Canada. He works in research lines in data mining, machine learning, big data and analytics, databases and decision support systems.
He has managerial experience, having previously held the positions of deputy head of Administration (2009-2015) and deputy head of Research and Development (2018-2021). Stanley is also a full professor in the postgraduate program at the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) and a collaborating researcher at the Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Scientific Computing, at the same university.
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