Florida International University and AmLight consortium partners are planning, designing, and defining a strategy for high capacity connectivity research and education network connectivity between the US and West Africa, called AARCLight: Americas Africa Research and eduCation Lightpaths. Science is being conducted in an era of information abundance. Sharing science resources, such as data, instrumentation, technology, and best practices, across national borders, can promote expanded scientific inquiry, and has the potential to advance discovery. Linking the U.S. and the nations of Africa's researcher and education communities is an increasingly strategic priority. Africa offers research and education communities with unique biological, environmental, geological, anthropological, and cultural resources. Research challenges in atmospheric and geosciences, materials sciences, tropical diseases, biology, astronomy, and other disciplines will benefit by enhancing the technological and social connections between the research and education communities of the US and Africa.The planning project is largely based on the planned availability of submarine cable spectrum for use by research and education communities. It creates an unprecedented opportunity for the stakeholders in the U.S., Africa, and Brazil to coordinate planning efforts to strategically make use of the offered spectrum towards serving the broadest communities of interest in research and education. The AmLight consortium partners are the (Brazilian Education and Research Network (RNP), Academic Network of São Paulo (ANSP), Latin American Cooperation of Advanced Networks (CLARA), Chile's Red Universitaria Nacional (REUNA), Florida LambdaRail (FLR), Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), and Latin American Nautilus)
