Cases & Voices

An Internet pioneer in his country and director of the Guatemalan Advanced Network for Research and Education (RAGIE), Luis Furlán talks about the creation of the Latin American Cooperation of Advanced Networks (RedCLARA), the main contributions it has made to Latin America and the Caribbean, and what he sees as the “misión” for the next generations of regional advanced networks: to increase scientific production and thus reduce the gaps in education and research in the region.

Why was RedCLARA created?

I think three main aspects influenced the creation of RedCLARA. First, the evolution of the “commercial” Internet. Although it was born as a military project, universities and research centers drove its growth. Until 1990, the Internet was used almost exclusively for academic and scientific purposes, but then came the famous boom, and almost overnight, commercial traffic went from virtually zero to 95% or more, leading to saturation. As a result, scientists and educators thought about creating a second generation of the Internet, now known as the advanced network, which would provide more bandwidth and other services. This was the case in the United States and almost the same in Latin America. 

Second, the human and physical resources needed for research in the region are quite geographically dispersed, and a basic concept of this type of network is to share resources. In this way, universities without much expertise in a particular discipline can take advantage of experts from other universities; Similarly, some countries have equipment that is unaffordable in others. For example, a scanning electron microscope costs at least $500,000; it may never be available in Guatemala, but with networks like RedCLARA, it can be used.

Thirdly, the challenges on which researchers work have gone from being focused and specific to one country to being global problems that require the collaboration of researchers from all over the world and many more communication resources to share data. Advanced networks facilitate this type of collaboration. I believe that these reasons were quite important in the creation of RedCLARA.

Third, research challenges have moved from being focused on one country to being global problems that require collaboration among researchers from around the world and many more communications resources to share data. Advanced networks facilitate this kind of collaboration. I think these reasons were very important in the creation of RedCLARA.

What has been RedCLARA's main contribution to the region?

It depends on the country. There are countries like Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico where there was already a lot of science and technology development before RedCLARA existed, and they already had their own National Research and Education Networks (NRENs). For them, RedCLARA represented a platform of infrastructure, tools, and services that complemented and amplified what they were doing. It allowed them to connect to advanced networks in an easier way because, before RedCLARA, each country had to figure out how to connect to the United States or Europe. 

On the other hand, there are countries like mine, Guatemala, where there is very little development in science and technology. In 2019, for example, in Guatemala, we had 27 scientists per million inhabitants, 16 times less than in Latin America and almost 300 times less than in developing countries. What did RedCLARA do for countries like this? it gave us the impetus to bring together universities and research centers to create our own RNIE (RAGIE). There had been a previous attempt, but it failed. This time it worked, thanks to RedCLARA, and RAGIE has gone along with it. It has not been easy, but for the scientists RedCLARA and RAGIE have been an incredible resource. I think RAGIE needs to promote science education at all levels, not only at the university level but also at the elementary and high school levels. In this case, RedCLARA should serve as a showcase for what is being done in the world.

What makes you proud of RedCLARA?

The most important thing about being part of RedCLARA is the relationship with other people. I am very proud to be part of the first and second generation of RedCLARA. It has given me the opportunity to learn a lot about technical, administrative, and legal aspects. I have participated in different activities and working groups, in the board of directors, including a period of presidency, representing RedCLARA in different bodies. It has been a great experience.

How has science and research work changed within the region and in collaboration with other regions, and how has RedCLARA influenced this?

It has changed in many ways, and I would like to highlight two. First, RedCLARA has been a driver of open science. This is a relatively new movement worldwide, but RedCLARA has been there to connect us with other regions. One example is the LA Referencia project. Previously, when an expert or researcher made bibliographic queries, most of the results they found were from literature from the United States, Europe, or Asia. LA Referencia has made it possible to search directly in Latin American collections, which is a great advantage since we are already starting to do more "tropicalized" science, more ad hoc to our own. The other outstanding change is that the platform offered by RedCLARA, the infrastructure, connectivity, tools, and services, have greatly facilitated working in multidisciplinary and multinational teams, which is now the norm in research. These are two ways in which I believe RedCLARA has transformed science and research in the region.

What do you expect from RedCLARA in the next 20 years?

This is a difficult question. From a technological point of view, it is not possible to answer what I expect RedCLARA to look like in 20 years. When we brought the Internet to Guatemala, if you had asked me the same question about what the Internet would look like in the next 5, 10, or 20 years, I would have given a completely wrong answer. Science and technology are changing so fast. I can answer that RedCLARA must evolve to meet the needs of science and technology in the region, as it has done from the beginning. In the ALICE project, the emphasis was on connectivity, so the problem was how to create a robust network that would connect twenty countries, and it was a great success because 14 countries were connected. In the next phase, ALICE2, the focus started to change and although connectivity was always important, it was necessary to go further. Many universities said, “We are already connected to RedCLARA, now what?” It was like building a great road system in a country with no vehicles. So ALICE2 also included an important component of services and tools for researchers, educators, etc. The latest projects, BELLA and BELLA II, have included that as well. Now, some mention that RedCLARA and the national research and education networks should function more as hubs of transformation. The idea would be that RedCLARA and the national networks serve to collect the needs of the population or users and distribute them to those who can meet those needs. This is a concept that goes beyond what a network is and certainly beyond what we thought RedCLARA should be when we started all this 20 years ago.

What message would you give to RedCLARA for its 20th anniversary and to all those who are part of it?

I would like to give two messages. The first is to thank all those who have given their time, their talent, and their efforts to get RedCLARA to where it is. Obviously, there are too many to list, but I would like to mention a few: Nelson Simoes of RNP, Idah Holz of RAU, Carlos Casasús of CUDI, and Florencio Utreras, who led the project for many years. These four people belong to the first generation of RedCLARA, and for me, they stood out as representatives of Latin America. Since it is a joint project with Europe, there have also been important people in this continent and I would like to thank Cathrin Stover, who has been the key for everything to go well, especially in the ALICE project phase. The second message I would like to give you is a picture of a map of the world where the size of the countries varies according to their scientific production and where we can clearly see a huge gap between the northern and the southern hemispheres. In the north, we see all the countries are quite "fat". In the south, Africa almost disappears, in Latin America, there are a few countries that stand out, but the rest are not there. So we see that there is a problem here. It has been proven that the development of countries goes hand in hand with science, technology, and education. A phrase that has always guided me in life is "Where there is a will, you can find a way to solve any problem". I am very sure that RedCLARA can play a crucial role in "inflating" Latin American countries on the map and in reducing the scientific-educational gap. This is the task for the next generations of RedCLARA.