The underwater cable Ellalink, the first to directly connect South America to Europe, will begin operations in June. On 01/06, during the event Leading the Digital Decade, organized by the European Commission, an official ceremony was held to launch the project, which establishes a high-capacity fiber optics link between the two continents, with 6,000 kilometers of extension, connecting the cities of Fortaleza (Brazil) and Sines (Portugal), without the need of passing data through the United States.

The ceremony was attended by the minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Marcos Pontes, the minister of Economy and Digital Transition of Portugal, Pedro Siza Vieira, the president of Ellalink, Philippe Dumont, and the president of Nokia, Pekka Lundmark.

To the minister of Portugal, Pedro Siza Vieira, the new cable represents not only new opportunities for the economy but also for scientific cooperation. "This cable is an infrastructure that is indispensable for the growth of the new data-driven digital economy, but also provides high capacity with low latency, which allows the operation of research and development business and activities using the best digital technologies".

For the minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Marcos Pontes, the pandemic underscored the importance of scientific cooperation between continents. "We now have a direct connection that will allow data transmission and information exchange in a much faster and more effective way," he said.

Part of the capacity of the underwater cable Ellalink will be used by project BELLA (Building the Europe Link to Latin America), which will meet the interconnectivity needs of research and education communities of European and Latin American countries over the next 25 years. The BELLA association is formed by the academic networks in Europe (Géant) and Latin America (RedCLARA), including Brazil (RNP).

One of the scientific projects that will be benefited from the new capacity is Copernicus, the European Union Earth Observation project, which will be able to rely on the collaboration of Latin American researchers to fight climate change.

To learn more about the BELLA project, visit https://bella-programme.redclara.net/. BELLA