"Red CLARA is a road and both researchers and projects are the vehicles traveling on that road, the idea is that together we can collaborate on the development of Latin America, we want to support the growth of the research community and sharing knowledge, "said Vice Chairman of CLARA, Luis Roberto Furlan, during the signing of a cooperation agreement between the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT ) and the Latin American Cooperation of Advanced Networks (CLARA), that took place on November 26th 2010.

According to the press release of CONACYT (See HERE ), this initiative is part of a strategy to articulate the work of Mexican researchers with their counterparts in other countries in Latin America and the world, to establish collaborative networks in areas of common interest.

The agreement involves envisages the development of three thematic workshops on priority areas for the region with the participation of leading experts from Mexico and other Latin American countries related to RedCLARA, to define joint research projects in the areas such as health, natural disasters, culture , education, physics, grids, chemistry, astronomy and biotechnology.

José Antonio de la Peña, Deputy Director of Scientific Development of CONACYT, indicated that the development of these workshops is the beginning of new projects aimed at enhancing the growth of interconnectivity and sharing of scientific knowledge among the countries of Latin America, where Mexico is called upon to play a leading role in the region.
In this regard, Furlan said that linking regional networks must not adhere to the institutions, but rather to form networks of individuals, particularly scientists and researchers.

The initiative also seeks to l lay the foundations for future collaborative actions between research groups, institutions or research centers from Mexico and from CLARA member countries, which consider the training of human resources at a post grade level, as high-level teaching and research.

Synergy with RedCLARA and its partners, the National Research and Educational Networks (NRENs) in Latin America, such as CUDI the Mexican network, allows the promotion of regional collaboration in high-impact issues to solve needs for the development of Science and Technology, through innovative mechanisms involved in the NRENs.

"The way to quickly solve some of the problems that affect the quality of life in Latin American countries increasingly depend on telecommunications infrastructure, as well as information technologies, which, for example, allows us to see a Hurricane since its begging, predict its road and then allow us to develop the logistics of rescue, "said Carlos Casasús Lopez, Director of CUDI.