Learn about the different phases in the development of LA Referencia
LA Referencia was born as a project coordinated by the Latin American Cooperation of Advanced Networks (RedCLARA) and funded by the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Regional Public Goods Fund between 2010 and 2013. It involved the participation of national science and technology organizations and some of the region’s NRENs.
In its early stages, the initiative focused on building agreements and establishing policies related to federated access, common policies, interoperability standards, and a technological pilot.
In this context, LA Referencia emerged from a Cooperation Agreement signed in Buenos Aires in 2012, reflecting a political commitment to provide open access to Latin America’s scientific output as a regional public good, with an emphasis on research results funded by public resources.
Once the project concluded at the end of 2013, the network was structured as a service among the region’s science and technology agencies, with the support of RedCLARA. The objective was to consolidate an open access strategy for accessing scientific publications, based on national repository policies and the development of public goods.