Europe and Latin America strengthen digital ties with High-Performance Computing and AI

This new initiative will strengthen cooperation between Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and the European Union (EU), on high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI), supporting digital transformation and the development of a more integrated regional HPC ecosystem.

A panel for the EU–LAC Supercomputing Network for AI, which took place as part of the CARLA conference in Córdoba, Argentina, yesterday 22 September 2026, marked the kick-off of this initiative. 

The EU-LAC Supercomputing Network for AI will address challenges including fragmented HPC capacity, uneven access to computing resources, investment needs and skills gaps, while supporting greater regional integration and stronger links between LAC and European HPC ecosystems. It will support the objectives of the AI continent action plan and is aligned with the EU-LAC Digital Alliance and the EU’s Global Gateway Strategy.  

The implementation commenced in August 2026 and will continue for two years, focusing on seven Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Uruguay.

The consortium brings together seven leading European HPC and research institutions, each contributing specific expertise and resources to the initiative: The Barcelona Supercomputing Center (Spain) as coordinator, the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (Portugal), Jülich Supercomputing Centre (Germany), CSC-IT Center for Science (Finland), the Institute of Information Science (Slovenia), the National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (France), and CINECA (Italy).

The network is expected to expand over time to include more countries participating in the EU–LAC Digital Alliance.

The EU-LAC Supercomputing Network for AI will benefit from financial support from the European Union and alignment with national initiatives by Spain and Brazil within the framework of the EU-LAC Digital Alliance and Global Gateway. It will strengthen the EU-LAC partnership in advanced digital skills and technologies, while creating new opportunities for researchers and industry to develop and test models, explore relevant use cases, and collaborate on shared challenges based on shared values.

 Anders Dam Jensen, Executive Director of the EuroHPC JU, said:

 “The EU–LAC Supercomputing Network for AI brings Europe and Latin America closer together through high-performance computing and I am confident that European expertise, infrastructure and experience will positively help in accelerating innovation and tackling shared challenges across both regions.”

European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Síkela, said: 

“The responsible development of supercomputing and artificial intelligence can help tackle the everyday challenges faced by people across Latin America and the Caribbean, from natural hazards to health and energy. Through Global Gateway, we are bringing together our expertise to develop solutions that will help us achieve these objectives”.

Key Objectives and Activities

To accelerate digital transformation in Latin America and the Caribbean, the initiative will build partnerships that will enhance interoperability and technical alignment with the European HPC ecosystem. It will include:

• Policy Dialogues: Facilitate national and regional policy dialogues to support the federation of HPC resources in LAC and their future interconnection with the European HPC ecosystem.
• Capacity Building: Strengthen expertise and skills in HPC, AI, and Machine Learning (ML) through training programmes, workshops, and an annual EU-LAC Summer School on HPC and AI, with a focus on increasing the participation of women and underrepresented groups.
• Joint Use Cases: Develop four joint EU-LAC use cases that demonstrate the practical application and societal benefits of HPC and AI collaboration. These use cases will address climate modelling, energy efficiency, natural hazard prediction, health, and large language models (LLMs).
• BELLA Integration: Promote the strategic integration of the BELLA high-speed connectivity infrastructure to enable secure and efficient data exchange, paving the way for the future federation of HPC resources in the region. BELLA is a joint initiative connecting the research, education, and digital data networks of Europe and Latin America, specifically via the Ella link 6 000 km submarine cable.

About the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking is a joint initiative of the European Union and participating countries that pools resources to make Europe a global leader in supercomputing.

It has already deployed 12 world-class supercomputers across Europe, including JUPITER in Germany and Alice Recoque in France, Europe's first exascale systems.

Researchers, industry and public-sector users throughout Europe can access these systems through EuroHPC Access Calls to advance scientific research and develop applications with industrial and societal impact.

The EuroHPC JU is overseeing the implementation of 19 AI factories (AIF) across Europe, complemented by 13 AI Factory Antennas, to offer free, customised support to SMEs and startups. 

The EuroHPC JU is also building Europe's quantum computing infrastructure by integrating European quantum technologies with its supercomputers, while investing in research and innovation across the entire European supercomputing value chain—from processors and software to applications and skills.

Following the adoption of Council Regulation (EU) 2026/150, the EuroHPC JU's mandate has been expanded to include the deployment of AI Gigafactories across Europe, an initiative for which the JU recently launched a call for tenders, as well the advancement of quantum technologies.

About the EU-LAC Digital Alliance

The EU-LAC Digital Alliance is a bi-regional initiative that promotes digital transformation and innovation through collaboration between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean as part of the EU’s Global Gateway Strategy.  The Digital Alliance operates across five pillars: political and regulatory dialogue, connectivity, private sector engagement, satellite data and space services, and additional projects aimed at boosting competitiveness and economic growth such as the EU-LAC Supercomputing Network for AI.

Global Gateway is the EU's positive offer to reduce the global investment gap and boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems.