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We close the first quarter of 2025 with the publication of edition 58 of our newsletter DeCLARA, the first of this year full of challenges and opportunities. In this edition, we highlight significant advancements in technology and international collaboration, reflecting RedCLARA's ongoing commitment to innovation, cooperation, and development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In his editorial, RedCLARA's Executive Director, Luis Eliécer Cadenas, emphasizes that "RedCLARA faces an environment full of opportunities and challenges. To respond to this context, we are implementing a new strategy that focuses efforts on initiatives with the greatest impact on the ecosystem. Its two main pillars are strengthening our value proposition and developing capacities to design and implement cooperation projects, such as BELLA II."

He also referred to another key area: the expansion of RedCLARA, which will enable direct connections with universities and research centers in countries without a national research and education network. "This expansion will bring the benefits of RedCLARA to the entire region, enriching and strengthening its digital ecosystem," he noted.

Among the most relevant topics in this 58th edition, we highlight the strengthening of cooperation between Peru and RedCLARA in telecommunications, through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). In addition, the over-decade-long collaboration between LA Referencia/RedCLARA and OpenAIRE was formalized, aimed at promoting Open Science and interoperability between Europe and Latin America.

We also feature the winning initiatives from the first BELLA II Ideathon in Guatemala: "A Priori Risk Management in the Motagua River Basin," as well as the advantages of the new HPC testing bed, a key resource to drive technological innovation in the region. This testing bed provides researchers, universities, and businesses with access to advanced, high-capacity infrastructure for conducting experiments and tests in supercomputing. It is an accessible tool that fosters collaboration and accelerates the development of solutions in areas such as artificial intelligence, data simulation, and scientific research.

As part of digital cooperation between Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe, the SPIDER project, in collaboration with RedCLARA, launched a call to promote the strategic use of BELLA's infrastructure. This initiative aims to foster the development of solutions in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and other digital resources, strengthening digital transformation and competitiveness in both regions.

This newsletter also reports on the return of TICAL to Costa Rica in 2025, the most important event in technology and infrastructure for higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean. TICAL brings together academics, scientists, technology experts, and decision-makers every year to discuss advances in digitalization and technological tools transforming the education sector. Its importance lies in offering a space to share experiences, knowledge, and best practices that facilitate the adoption of advanced technologies in the region, promoting collaboration and the development of solutions to contemporary educational and scientific challenges.

We also highlight the start of RUTE-ALC's virtual meetings for 2025, the upcoming CARLA 2025 event in Jamaica in September, the webinar on collaborative strategies for DNS security, and the growing impact of Latin American women in supercomputing.

At RedCLARA, we continue to work on strengthening the scientific and technological infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean, and with each step, we aim to provide innovative solutions to meet the great challenges of our time.

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