News

The Latin American Cooperation of Advanced Networks (RedCLARA) and the Corporación Universitaria para el Desarrollo de Internet (CUDI) are scheduled to host the workshop entitled "The Role of Universities and NRENs in Building a Viable, Sustainable and Impactful Digital Future in Latin America and the Caribbean" on April 8th in Yucatan, Mexico.

This workshop serves as a continuation of the strategic dialogues initiated by BELLA II, a regional project spearheaded by RedCLARA and financially supported by the European Union. The overarching goal of BELLA II is to narrow the digital gap and foster the development of requisite infrastructure for bolstering and extending a digital ecosystem encompassing science, technology, education, and innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In conjunction with this project, which stands as a cornerstone of the EU-Latin America Digital Alliance, the inaugural four strategic dialogues took place last year in Brussels, Belgium (July 18th), El Salvador (October 10th), Panama (November 16th), and Cartagena de Indias, Colombia (November 29th). These dialogues were aimed at facilitating and encouraging the involvement and co-investment of stakeholders within the digital ecosystem.

The Yucatan Dialogue aims to delineate a strategic outlook on the roles of universities and NRENs in confronting the challenges posed by the digital economy. Moreover, it seeks to devise a roadmap that would empower them, within the ambit of the BELLA II project and the EU-LAC Digital Alliance, to make substantial contributions to the sustainable development of the data-driven, people-centric digital ecosystem. RedCLARA, serving as a catalyst for innovation, knowledge management, and bi-regional socio-economic advancement, embodies this vision.

Anticipated attendees include representatives from governmental bodies, policymakers, connectivity providers, universities, research centers, CUDI members, corporations, and financial institutions.

The dialogue will encompass a plenary session featuring project presentations, alongside roundtable discussions covering topics such as financing and sustainability, governance, innovation, data and computational capabilities, digital competencies, and the development of human capital and connectivity.