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The Swedish Research Council awarded EU funding for Polar Connect Step 1
The next sub-project in Polar Connect is now starting – where five Nordic actors join together to secure the global digital infrastructure of the future. The project also entails opportunities to collect data for research into the Arctic.
Polar Connect is an initiative establishing a robust and reliable fibre connection between Europe and Asia, along a new route via the Arctic Ocean. It is now clear that the European Commission will award 40 million SEK to the sub-project “Polar Connect Step 1”.
The Swedish Research Council is coordinating Polar Connect Step 1 via Sunet, and has been awarded EU funding together with NORDUnet, the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, the Technical University of Denmark, and Global Connect.
“With the EU funding, we can collaborate with several possible actors within fibre-optic data communication, sensor development, Arctic research, and logistical support. I think it will be easy to find collaboration partners, as the project has raised great interest within the EU, and also in Japan and Korea,” says Magnus Friberg, Project Leader and Senior Adviser at Sunet.
In Polar Connect Step 1, the technical, economic, and political preconditions are created for a new fibre connection with Asia, which will provide a considerably more secure and shorter connection that the current alternatives. The work begins with project planning for a fibre-optic cable between the Cap of the North in Scandinavia and eastern Asia, via the Arctic Ocean. At the same time, the process of obtaining the permits needed will begin.
A crucial part of the project is to use the ice-breaker Oden to map the Arctic seabed – one of the world’s least explored regions.
“A fibre-optic sea cable is manufactured according to the characteristics of the seabed, is rolled up on a ship and must be laid with good precision. For this reason, careful measurements of the seabed must be taken before the exact route is determined and the cable manufactured. By mapping the seabed of the Arctic, two important goals are achieved at the same time – we collect both data for Polar Connect and important data that can increase researchers’ understanding of the Arctic,” adds Magnus Friberg.
Read the Government’s press release (in Swedish)
External link.
Read more about Polar Connect on NORDUnet’s website External link.
How researchers will benefit from the project
The work of mapping the seabed of the Arctic is an opportunity for researchers to increase their understanding of the seabed of the Arctic, in particular areas such as the Lomonosov Ridge, the Alpha Ridge, and the Gakkel Ridge. Researchers will be able to engage in the project by participating in the discussion of what data from the seabed of the Arctic can be useful to them. In this way, they can take part in influencing the manufacture of cables and sensors, and contribute to Polar Connect with a research perspective. Information about current webinars and other activities will be published on the project website.
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