Ieva Muraškienė
Ieva 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 plays a key leadership role in advancing Polar Connect’s mission. Ieva 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 later 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 a chair, together with other members advising on the development of the GÉANT pan-European backbone network. Since joining NORDUnet in 2022, Ieva has been contributing to NORDUnet’s strategic mission with the Polar Connect initiative at the forefront of her work.
Session
Europe’s digital infrastructure evolves to meet growing demands for resilience and digital sovereignty, to ensure resources for AI, cloud computing, research, and secure international connectivity, the importance of geographically diverse network routes has never been more important. The Polar Connect Initiative is aiming to establish a resilient, high-capacity digital backbone through the Central Arctic Ocean, providing secure and sovereign connectivity between Europe, North America and East Asia, along the shortest viable route.
The Arctic may seem geographically distant from the Baltic region, however the Polar Connect submarine fibre cable route presents significant benefits for Northern Europe backbone network development. This new connectivity through the Arctic region positions the Nordic and Baltic countries as an international digital gateway between Europe and East Asia, creating additional opportunities for traffic exchange and interconnection, increase resilience for existing backbone networks, and support future growth opportunities for data centres, cloud services, and research infrastructure.
This presentation will provide an update on the latest progress of the Polar Connect Initiative, including pre-marine surveys from the latest mission of summer 2026, technical feasibility studies, and the level of international collaboration required to achieve this one-of-a kind project. The talk will also map how the initiative fits within the broader European strategy for digital resilience, the Cable Projects of European Interest (CPEI), and the Digital Global Gateway.
Rather than viewing Polar Connect as yet another submarine fibre cable, the presentation will focus on the opportunities for a new strategic layer of European digital infrastructure and what this means for operators, carriers, and infrastructure providers across the Baltic and Nordic region.