Polar Connect: Pioneering a New Digital Highway Through the Arctic

Polar Connect is a bold, forward-looking initiative that opens a completely new path for global digital connectivity, linking Europe with Japan and the broader Indo-Pacific region via the Arctic. This groundbreaking route has the potential to include landing points in the United States, Canada, and South Korea, redefining global internet traffic flows.

Polar Connect is a collaboration of government owned entities NORDUnet and the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, backed by funding and support from the Swedish Government through the Swedish Research Council (VR) and the European Union through CEF Digital. The initiative is progressed through a series of projects funded by direct state budget investment and strategic grants from European Union, focusing on the design, planning, and feasibility of this resilient and future-proof digital corridor.

NORDUnet is owned by the governments of the Nordic countries and represents the research networks of the Nordic countries; Sunet (Sweden), CSC (Finland), Sikt (Norway), DeiC (Denmark), RHnet (Iceland)

With its unique positioning and strategic relevance, Polar Connect is set to enhance global resilience, reduce latency between key regions, and support the next generation of scientific collaboration, innovation, and the development of new digital infrastructures.

The initiative has also received broad political endorsement beyond the Nordic region. Funding proposals submitted to CEF Digital have been accompanied by formal support letters from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, and Poland, underscoring the initiative’s potential to serve as a critical new gateway between Northern Europe and the Indo-Pacific.