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The European program's new data center will work in synergy with its Chilean counterpart, promoting scientific and digital cooperation, private sector development and business opportunities in the region.

(Source: REUNA) In 2022, the European Commission and the government of Panama announced the creation of a Copernicus Regional Center in the country, as part of the new European Union-Latin America Digital Alliance. Its objective will be to strengthenthe capacities of Latin American and Caribbean countries in environmental management and in mitigating the effects of climate change, especially in reducing the risk of natural disasters, and will act as a mirror of the Copernicus Regional Center in Chile.

In this context, Carlos Kan, National Director of Innovation of the National Innovation Authority (AIG), and Francisco García, Deputy Director of Scientific Research and Technological Development of the National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation (Senacyt) of Panama, visited REUNA to learn more about the Chilean experience.

The Panamanian delegation met with Jaime Ortega, Scientific Director of the Copernicus Regional Center in Chile and researcher at the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) of the University of Chile; María José López, Manager of International Cooperation, Communications and Public Relations of RedCLARA; Paola Arellano, REUNA Executive Director; Albert Astudillo, manager of Technology of REUNA; and Carolina Muñoz, Assistant Manager of Communications and Positioning of the Corporation.

"One of our main objectives for this visit to Chile is to be able to exchange technical, scientific, academic, administrative and logistical information that will allow us to take advantage of the know-how of the Chilean ecosystem in the field of Copernicus, so that we can accelerate the Copernicus mirror center in Panama. At the same time, we want to coordinate strategic actions with our counterparts at the University of Chile, for the development of the Copernicus centers", explained the Deputy Director of Scientific Research and Technological Development of Senacyt.

In addition, the Central American country is in the process of the creation of its National Research and Education Network (RNIE), so it was also of particular interest to understand the multiple dimensions in which these organizations contribute to the academic, scientific and technological ecosystem of our countries and the region, as well as their model, structure and internal functioning.

"In our visit to REUNA, we were very impressed by the strong commitment and connection of the Chilean Research and Education Network to the ecosystem, which has been providing connectivity to different research centers and universities for almost 30 years, making it self-sustainable, with a business model scheme made up of a board of members and different membership schemes. Among the notable elements is the transition from a NOC to a NOC SOC, to operate in a 24x7x365 format the technological infrastructure and cybersecurity," said Carlos Kan, National Innovation Director of AIG.

State-of-the-art connectivity for Latin America

One of the enabling conditions for the Copernicus Regional Centers in Panama and Chile to work in synergy, and for users throughout the continent to have fast and timely access data, is the high-speed connectivity provided by the BELLA project and the region's NRENs. “Thanks to the RedCLARA work and its national networks in the framework of the BELLA project, the research and education communities of Latin America and the Caribbean have a 100 Gbps ring that guarantees first class connectivity, so that users throughout the region can quickly and securely access the data and applications that these new centers will offer," said the REUNA Executive Director, Paola Arellano.

Along the same lines, the Scientific Director of the Copernicus Regional Center in Chile, Jaime Ortega, explained that, just as the focus of the Chilean center will be to provide land cover and land use monitoring services for large urban areas and ocean coasts throughout the region, "one of the most important missions of the Copernicus Center in Panama will be training and education, and a lot of it will be online; although there will be face-to-face activities, an important part will be virtual courses, MOOCs, Moodle and all those things, and connectivity will be fundamental".

The creation of these regional centers will allow a more intensive and massive use of the data of the European program, and this information will be useful not only to respond to global challenges, but also to be applicable to the specific needs of each country, such as the development of environmental policies, the identification of areas of geological risk, the real-time management of coastal, mining and agricultural resources, the design of smart cities and decision-making in emergency situations.

In addition, the data provided by Copernicus can contribute to the economic growth of countries through the development of value-added services, which are adapted to specific commercial needs, leading to new business opportunities, and fostering local scientific and technological innovation.