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The Latin American Cooperation of Advanced Networks, RedCLARA, has become an official member of the Latin American and Caribbean Cyber Competence Centre (LAC4), an initiative implemented by EU CyberNet and funded by the European Union (EU). Accession to LAC4 aims to strengthen continental cooperation and technical assistance in the field of cyber security for the benefit of the region's NRENs.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed by RedCLARA and LAC4 defines the first as a “Participating Nation”, i.e. one of the countries and international organizations that, on behalf of the Board of Directors, undertake coordination or representation tasks in order to carry out the projects and programmes created by the Association to achieve its objectives.

This important alliance will enable the contribution of RedCLARA's expertise to the governance structure of the Cyber Competence Centre, leverage the link and articulation with the academic sector for the development of training and curriculum for academic cyber incident response teams under RedCLARA, an activity being developed by the Cybersecurity Group, as well as align policy objectives and expertise, and increase trust in working with partners across borders.

“Joining LAC4 would allow us to strengthen the collaboration and the capacities of national networks and cybersecurity training centers, articulating initiatives that Benefit all the countries of the region", underlined Luis Eliécer Cadenas, Executive Director of RedCLARA.

In addition, this important step will make it possible to explore synergies between LAC4 proposals and the BELLA II project. For example, exploring a possible extension of the Cyber Range, the interactive and secure platforms for training and improving skills in the prevention, detection, and response to cyber threats, under construction by LAC4, through the potential of the BELLA II project.

RedCLARA's participation in LAC4 materializes the cooperation proposals of the Memorandum of Understanding between RedCLARA and the Information System Authority of the Republic of Estonia (RIA), signed in 2022, with the aim of enhancing cybersecurity professional development in the region through the exchange of best practices and capacity building.

As a result of this agreement, a number of joint actions have also been carried out. These include crisis management workshops and training courses for CSIRTs (Information Security Incident Response Teams) consolidation. In the future, together with the Security Group of the Latin American and Caribbean Research and Education Networks (eduLACSeg), it is expected to continue developing a complementary course on the creation of CSIRTs and another on technical exercises for defense, among others, explained Carlos González, RedCLARA's services manager.

LAC4 4, which will be officially launched in November 2022, is part of the EU CyberNet project implemented by RIA. It contributes to the development of cybersecurity resilience and secure digital transformation in Latin America and the Caribbean.