A Cyber-Shield for Europe and Latin America & the Caribbean

Websites of governments, hospitals and companies being hacked. Strategic infrastructures, like fibre-cables, under sabotage. Global private and State actors using personal data for their own benefit. These events are making the headlines weekly around the world. In an increasingly interconnected world where cyber threats know no borders, cooperation on cybersecurity & secure connectivity between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is of significant geopolitical relevance for both regions.

The EU-LAC Digital Alliance met in Paris on 18-20 March to discuss cyber incidents response, secure 5G and satellite connectivity, with the very concrete goal of discussing how ongoing and future projects can improve the cyber resilience and secure connectivity of both regions.

Participating in the High-Level Policy Dialogue in Paris are senior government representatives from the EU, its Member States and LAC countries, as well as civil society, academia, and private sector.

The EU-LAC Cyber-SHIELD

Cyber incidents are growing in frequency, scale, and sophistication. Fragmented responses, limited information-sharing channels, and uneven incident response capacities hinder rapid and coordinated action within and across regions. In response to these challenges, on 20 January 2026, the Commission proposed a revised Cybersecurity Act (CSA) as part of the EU's new cybersecurity package to reinforce the Union's cyber resilience in the face of growing hybrid threats.

Against this background, the EU-LAC Cyber-SHIELD, a bi-regional project that is currently being developed under the Digital Alliance, aims at building a structured and operational bi-regional framework supported by a Community of Practice.

Its objective is to improve cyber incident preparedness and response capacities, in line with EU standards and international best practices. The EU is ready to mobilise European expertise and technological solutions, to improve the structuring, and capacity to respond to incidents, of national cybersecurity ecosystems in the LAC region.

The support will include the setting-up of Security Operations Centres, mobilisation of European expertise in the aftermath of cyber incidents and the strengthening of Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs). Activities will also aim at the definition of common protocols, secure channels, and joint simulations.

Secure connectivity

Under the Digital Alliance's pillar of Meaningful Connectivity, which focuses on building reliable and affordable connections to empower citizens and businesses to fully participate in the digital world-whether for learning, work, business or connecting with others, the High-Level Policy Dialogue in Paris focused on secure connectivity aspects

Secure and resilient connectivity has consistently emerged as a shared priority. Since 2024, cooperation has advanced from strategic alignment to joint activities, delivering tangible outcomes such as the Regional 5G Implementation Guide for LAC, modelled after the German-Mexican 5G Implementation Guide. The guide will be published later this year and will provide practical insights and recommendations on trusted and sustainable 5G connectivity deployment.

Paris has been again an opportunity for the EU-LAC Digital Alliance members to address this challenge which is at the core of national security and social cohesion. The session "Jointly Advancing Secure Connectivity Infrastructure in Europe and LAC" served as the implementation-focused follow-up to the political discussions on secure connectivity, with a specific emphasis on secure and resilient 5G deployment.

Satellite connectivity with IRIS²

Where cables and 5G do not reach, satellites can bridge the gap - connecting remote regions such as the Amazon basin, mountainous areas or small island states. During the EU-LAC Digital Alliance Paris Dialogue, participants explored how Europe's future satellite connectivity system, IRIS², could help expand secure and resilient connectivity worldwide.

IRIS² stands for Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite. It is the European Union's next-generation multi-orbit satellite connectivity programme, developed under the EU Space Programme to provide secure, resilient and high-performance communications services. IRIS² will combine Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and Geostationary (GEO) satellites to deliver secure connectivity services, complement terrestrial networks such as fibre and 5G, and strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure.

The programme is implemented as a Public-Private Partnership between the European Union and the European space industry, organised under the SpaceRISE consortium, which brings together leading satellite operators including SES, Hispasat and Eutelsat.

The consortium is supported by a broader ecosystem of European space and telecommunications companies acting as key subcontractors, including Thales Alenia Space, OHB, Airbus Defence and Space, Telespazio, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Hisdesat and Thales SIX, among others.

The overall IRIS² contract represents an investment of approximately EUR 10.9 billion, combining EU public funding with private sector investment.

While the system is currently under development, IRIS² is designed with an international outlook, offering commercial services that could complement terrestrial infrastructure and support connectivity initiatives in partner regions.

For Latin America and the Caribbean, satellite connectivity could help overcome geographic barriers and strengthen the resilience of digital infrastructure - supporting connectivity in remote territories, disaster-prone areas and underserved communities.

As cooperation under the EU-LAC Digital Alliance deepens, IRIS² could become an important building block for expanding meaningful, secure and future-proof connectivity across the region.

Business Matchmaking

In line with the EU Global Gateway strategy, deploying the EU Tech Business Offer across regions can only be realised through private investment and expertise. In the context of the EU-LAC Digital Alliance Dialogue in Paris, 100+ participants from public and private organisation -such as (couple of eye-catcher names)- had the opportunity to network and jointly to identify needs and investment opportunities in the sectors of cybersecurity and secure connectivity. The session, organised by Gobierna Bien, counted with a digital platform that will allow the Digital Alliance to track, monitor and follow-up on the connections made during the day to transform informal conversations into concrete investment partnerships.

Want to know more?

The EU-LAC Digital Alliance, is an informal, values-based framework for cooperation, open to all LAC countries and EU Member States who may participate through their respective governments and agencies related to the digital agenda.

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

The Global Gateway strategy embodies a Team Europe approach that brings together the European Union, EU Member States and European development finance institutions. It has mobilised up to €306 billion in public and private investments since 2021 and creates essential links rather than dependencies and close the global investment gap.

The EU-LAC Digital Alliance is an action-oriented cooperation model that delivers on the objectives of EU International Digital Strategy and can inspire partnerships with other regions.

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