Brussels, 24/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - At the third Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) - European Union (EU) Ministerial Forum on the Information Society, held in Rio de Janeiro on 22-23 November 2004, Ministers and their representatives committed themselves to increased efforts in tackling the social dimension of the Information Society. They also officially launched RedCLARA, the first Pan-Latin-American network for research and education. RedCLARA is directly connected to the Pan-European research network. It will therefore allow 600 university research institutions in Latin America to intensify cooperation with more than 3,500 institutions in Europe and many more around the world. The direct link to Europe opens the way for researchers in Latin America to participate in European research projects in important areas of scientific research such as high energy physics, astronomy and biomedicine. In their “Declaration of Rio”, they also agreed to develop an Alliance for Social Cohesion through Digital Inclusion” to make a joint contribution to a global Information Society, the overall objective of the World Summit on the Information Society.
The European Commission was represented at the Ministerial Forum by Fabio Colasanti, Director-General for Information Society and also by representatives from the External Relations, EuropeAid and Development services.