After closing last Friday, TICAL2025 leaves behind a trail of reflections, agreements, and new avenues of collaboration that continue to resonate across the region this week.
Held in San José, Costa Rica, the event not only concluded three intensive days of dialogue, innovation, and shared learning; it also opened a broader conversation on the value of digital cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean, and between the region and Europe, as a driver of scientific, educational, and social transformation.
Organised by RedCLARA, RedCONARE and the European Union (EU) under the BELLA II programme, the conference brought together more than 200 representatives from universities, governments, academic networks, multilateral organisations and technology companies. Throughout the sessions, connectivity, artificial intelligence, digital health, education, and cybersecurity intertwined around a common theme: the importance of placing technology at the service of people.
One of the most meaningful debates focused on the role of artificial intelligence in education. Researchers from across the region noted that younger generations increasingly rely on these tools not only to study, but also to organise their daily lives and seek emotional support. This trend places a dual responsibility on institutions: to strengthen critical thinking and to safeguard emotional well-being in environments where automation coexists with loneliness.
Another key theme was cybersecurity, addressed from both a regional and human standpoint. Speakers highlighted how artificial intelligence has lowered technical barriers—or “democratised” cybercrime—leading to a rise in identity fraud, manipulated video calls, and increasingly sophisticated attacks. The Digital Hunters panel revealed that the education sector is currently the most targeted, and that 93% of organisations report insufficient resilience in the face of this growing threat.
The conclusions were unequivocal: defence cannot rely solely on technical measures. It requires trust, governance, resources, regional cooperation, and the strengthening of human capability. The discussions also underscored that digital culture remains the decisive factor in protecting systems, institutions, and communities.
The digital health track illustrated how collaboration leads to improved care and well-being. The Latin American and Caribbean University Telemedicine Network (RUTE-ALC) presented advances achieved through its collaborative model, which connects universities, hospitals, and national research networks. Case studies from Costa Rica and Chile demonstrated how clinical data, university-led telemedicine, digital health records, and interoperability can enhance care, reduce waiting times, identify risks, and extend specialised services to areas where they did not previously exist.
One of the most notable examples came from Costa Rica: a predictive analysis based on more than fifty million clinical records from the national Digital Health Record (EDUS), which enabled the identification of risk factors for chronic diseases. The experience revealed not only the transformative potential of data but also the social challenges that accompany it: reaching patients, building trust, and ensuring ethical data governance.
The European perspective provided regulatory and strategic frameworks through the European Health Data Space, underscoring that cybersecurity, interoperability, and governance challenges are shared on both sides of the Atlantic. The panel agreed that digital health advances when technology is paired with commitment, infrastructure, and international cooperation.
In the final sessions, a keynote by Álvaro Soto from Chile’s National Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA) marked a significant moment. Presenting findings from the Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index (ILIA) and advances of LaTAM GPT —a large language model trained in and for Latin America— Soto emphasised the objective of building regional capabilities, grounded in local data, shared infrastructure, and the conviction that “no institution can achieve this alone”. His intervention underscored the importance of AI as a strategic field and the need for bi-regional collaboration.
The closing panel highlighted that research infrastructures, interoperability models, and open science are not isolated components: they are essential foundations that will enable the region to leverage its biodiversity, data, talent, and creativity in continued dialogue with Europe. In this context, BELLA II —led by RedCLARA and co-funded by the European Union— emerged as one of the central pillars of digital cooperation within the EU–LAC Digital Alliance. It not only connects continents; it enables science, education, innovation, and development in the years ahead.
In his closing remarks, RedCLARA’s Executive Director, Luis Eliécer Cadenas, reminded participants that connectivity “is not an end in itself”, but the enabler that allows artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and open science to become realities for the region. He stressed that RedCLARA is the entity that articulates this vision and anchors cooperation: a space where universities, national networks, governments, and research centres recognise themselves as part of a single digital community strengthened by shared objectives.
“The true transformative power lies not only in the infrastructure, but in our ability to align purpose and turn that infrastructure into development —something that RedCLARA and the BELLA II project are advancing decisively by connecting Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe within a long-term cooperation platform,” he said.
He also drew attention to the work that is not always visible: that of technical teams, RNIEs, and all those who sustain each link, service, and project that make TICAL possible year after year.
TICAL2025 concluded by reaffirming that digital cooperation between Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe is a strategic pillar for scientific and educational development. In a context shaped by artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and new learning dynamics, the event made one thing clear: digital transformation begins and ends with people. What comes next will require a collective vision, one capable of turning knowledge into development and cooperation into shared futures.
