Ieva Muraškienė – Polar Connect: Opportunities with the New Arctic Connectivity Corridor
Ieva Muraškienė is Strategy and Policy Officer at NORDUnet and a member of the Polar Connect Executive Team, contributing to one of Europe’s most ambitious digital connectivity initiatives. She oversees cross-disciplinary project activities, working with experts on Arctic navigation, fibre-sensing technologies, and engagement with Arctic research communities.
Her career in research and education networks spans more than 15 years, beginning at Lithuania’s NREN LITNET and progressing into international coordination roles within GÉANT projects, including the Baltic Sea Regional Study and the EaPConnect project. This year, Ieva joined the GÉANT Network Infrastructure Advisory Committee as chair, advising on the development of the GÉANT pan-European backbone network. She has worked at NORDUnet since 2022, with Polar Connect at the center of her role.
At BalticNOG 2026, Ieva will bring this work to the stage with her talk, “Polar Connect: Opportunities with the New Arctic Connectivity Corridor.”
Why Geography Matters More Than Ever
Europe’s digital infrastructure is evolving to meet growing demands for resilience and digital sovereignty, securing the resources AI, cloud computing, research, and international connectivity all depend on. Geographically diverse network routes matter more now than they ever have. The Polar Connect Initiative aims to establish a resilient, high-capacity digital backbone through the Central Arctic Ocean, connecting Europe, North America, and East Asia along the shortest viable route.
What This Means for Baltic and Nordic Operators
The Arctic may seem far from the Baltic region, but the Polar Connect route carries real benefits for Northern Europe’s backbone network development. Ieva will give special attention to what this means for network operators directly, including:
- strengthening resilience at the northern edge of European networks;
- opportunities for new backbone and backhaul infrastructure in Northern Europe;
- the role of carrier-neutral interconnection and open access infrastructure;
- evolving traffic patterns driven by AI, hyperscalers, and high-performance computing;
- research and education requirements alongside commercial connectivity;
- Arctic infrastructure as an enabler of both new routing and future scientific sensing and environmental monitoring.
From Seabed Surveys to an Icebreaker Expedition
Ieva will give an update on the latest progress of the Polar Connect Initiative, including pre-marine surveys from the summer 2026 mission, technical feasibility studies, and the stakeholder engagement and international collaboration this project requires. That includes seabed mapping expeditions aboard the icebreaker Oden in the Central Arctic Ocean, with newly collected data still being evaluated through late summer. Ieva plans to share personal reflections from the workshops held onboard Oden during the pre-surveying expedition.
Fitting Into Europe’s Broader Digital Strategy
The talk will map how Polar Connect fits within the broader European strategy for digital resilience, including the Cable Projects of European Interest (CPEI) and the Digital Global Gateway. Rather than treating Polar Connect as just another submarine fibre cable, Ieva will frame it as a new strategic layer of European digital infrastructure, and what that means for operators, carriers, and infrastructure providers across the Baltic and Nordic region.
Why You Shouldn’t Miss This Talk
Polar Connect is still early in development, but the decisions made now will shape how Europe connects to North America and East Asia for decades. Ieva’s talk gives you a direct look at where the project stands, what it will take to get built, and why it matters for anyone planning network infrastructure in this region. She’s also opening the floor to discuss how the Baltic and Nordic networking community can help shape the next generation of resilient, trusted infrastructure for Northern Europe.
Whether you run a network, plan infrastructure, or work in policy, this talk will help you understand a project that could reshape the digital map of Northern Europe.
📅 When: 23-24 September 2026
📍 Where: BalticNOG 2026, Riga, Latvia
🔗 Don’t miss BalticNOG! Register today: https://balticnog.org/tickets/
