On 16th December 2024 the North Pole Fiber project team hosted the Polar Connect Event in Tokyo, Japan. Supported by the Embassy of Sweden and Business Sweden, we invited regional governments, government agencies, commercial actors, and the main experts in Japanese connectivity to come together in the discussions about Arctic connectivity between Europe and Asia.
The event, with over twenty attendees, began with welcoming remarks by Ambassador Viktoria Li and Trade Commissioner Carsten Grönblad. Following this, presentations were delivered by Peter Fatelnig (Minister Counsellor for Digital Economy Policy at the Delegation of the European Union to Japan), Thomas Neidenmark (Senior Policy Officer, Government Offices of Sweden), Osamu Akashi (Project Professor, Deputy Director of Research and Development Center for Academic Networks, NII/SINET) and Hirochika Asa (tech lead at ARENA-PAC), as well as a presentation on Polar Connect, by Valter Nordh (CEO of NORDUnet) and Per Nihlén (CTO of SUNET and Head of Unit, Swedish Research Council).
The Polar Connect Event was a success and provided an excellent opportunity to strengthen relations, to further implement Polar Connect’s Vision 2030 and advance the stakeholder engagement in the North Pole Fiber project.