By completing the terrestrial optical fibre network infrastructure of RedCLARA, a significant improvement of the Latin American Network will be achieved. This enhancement will ensure that the enormous step forward of the transcontinental capacity will be evenly distributed within the sub-continent, and through the synergy with the NRENs will enhance capillarity and equal access to the intercontinental services by all Latin American users.

BELLA-T will establish a 100Gbps-capable RedCLARA backbone in South America, ensuring seamless end-to-end connectivity in the long-term for use by the research and education communities of the region.

The project will contribute to strengthening the close working relationships between the Latin American research and education networking communities, significantly improving the long-term collaboration within the region and impacting their success.

On March 6, 2017 has been opened the Call for Tender for Telecommunications Infrastructure and Services to connect the national research and education networks (NRENs) of: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, as well as infrastructure for Chile and a submarine connection between Colombia and Brazil.

The BELLA-T Latin American e-Science Meeting (to be held in the framework of TICAL2017, in San Jose, Costa Rica, fron July 3 to 5) seeks to offer a new space for the exchange of knowledge and good practices in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) within the scope of research, with the view to contributing to the improvement and optimization of Management and work of the scientific groups in the region. To this end, BELLA-T calls the Latin American researchers to present works that show their experiences in the development of collaborative initiatives involving the use of ICT (advanced networks, databases, repositories, visualization, supercomputing, among others) in the areas of Biodiversity, e-Health, Environment, Astronomy, Art and Culture in Network and High Energy Physics, considered as priority.

For the first time since its inception TICAL has shared its program and headquarters with another event: the 1st Latin American e-Science Meeting, organized by the BELLA-T Project. The initiative sought to offer a new space for the exchange of knowledge and good practices in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in research work, aiming to contribute to the improvement and optimization of the management and work of the scientific communities in the region.