The Missing Link in Canada-Nordic Arctic Cooperation: Digital Research Infrastructure

LUMI supercomputer HPE Cray EX. Photo: Mikael Kanerva

The recent visits of Canadian ministers Anita Anand to Finland and Mélanie Joly to Sweden mark a notable deepening of Canada’s ties with two of the most technologically advanced Nordic states. In Helsinki, Canada and Finland launched a strategic partnership in foreign and security policy, highlighting NATO cooperation, Arctic security, hybrid threats, and maritime resilience. In Stockholm, Canada and Sweden emphasized industrial and technological collaboration, including defense cooperation, space research, critical minerals, clean energy, pharmaceuticals, and digital innovation. Both agreements reflect a shared commitment to democracy, transatlantic security, and the rule-based international order.

On the surface, this emerging network of partnerships appears comprehensive. It stretches across defense, trade, energy, digitalization, and climate, reflecting the breadth of challenges in today’s Arctic. Yet, despite this ambition, one crucial element is absent: digital research infrastructure (DRI). While references are made to digital innovation and secure connectivity, the agreements stop short of recognising that without robust and interoperable DRI, none of these cooperative efforts can achieve their full potential.

This omission matters because DRI is not merely another sectoral theme. It is the connective fabric of modern cooperation. High-performance computing, secure data storage, advanced connectivity, and digital platforms for collaboration enable the very capabilities that Canada, Finland, and Sweden wish to advance. In the Arctic in particular, where extreme conditions, sparse connectivity, and accelerating climate change converge, strong digital research infrastructures are indispensable. Climate modeling of permafrost melt, satellite-driven monitoring of maritime traffic, and predictive analytics for resource management all depend on access to advanced computing power and shared data platforms. Defense interoperability, moreover, now relies less on physical hardware alone and increasingly on resilient digital systems that can withstand cyber and hybrid threats. Even the creation of sustainable and transparent critical minerals supply chains—another priority highlighted in Stockholm—requires digital tools such as predictive modeling and AI-enabled logistics.

Finland and Sweden already bring considerable strengths to this domain. Finland hosts LUMI, one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, embedded in a broader strategy of Arctic digitalization that integrates AI, data centres, and smart logistics into both civilian and defense policy. Sweden has advanced Arctic innovation hubs focused on sustainable mining, AI ethics, and digital resilience, alongside new investments in space research and polar observation. Both countries have integrated digitalization into their Arctic strategies aligning with the EU priorities on technological sovereignty.

Canada, for its part, has made Arctic research, sustainability, and security central to its foreign policy. However, its vast northern regions remain under-connected and vulnerable to cyber threats and disinformation. By making DRI a central pillar of its partnerships with Finland and Sweden, Canada stands a better chance of transforming political declarations into operational capability. The benefits would be tangible. Shared supercomputing resources could generate common climate and security models and facilitate the articulation and operationalization of coordinated approaches to AI and cybersecurity aimed at protecting vital infrastructure from hybrid threats. This approach would also deepen Canada’s broader relationship with the European Union dovetailing with the objectives of the EU–Canada Digital Partnership. Furthermore, collaborative initiatives in fields such as Arctic observation, AI-driven climate modeling, and cybersecurity would not only promote sustainable development in the Arctic but also help secure the competitiveness and resilience of transatlantic Arctic research ensuring it remains at the forefront of global innovation and capable of addressing emerging challenges.

Seen in this light, DRI is the missing component that binds together all the other priorities identified in these agreements. Defense cooperation, critical minerals, climate resilience, energy transitions, and space exploration all hinge on the ability to share data securely, process it at scale, and apply it through innovative and resilient systems. Without a deliberate focus on DRI, the Canada–Nordic agenda risks remaining aspirational. With it, these partnerships could become genuinely transformative, positioning the Arctic as a model of resilient, inclusive, and forward-looking transatlantic cooperation. The way forward will require greater attention to the digital dimension of Arctic cooperation; that is, if Canada and its Nordic partners wish to translate their broad ambitions into practical outcomes, narrowing the digital gap becomes essential. Placing digital research infrastructure at the centre of cooperation would provide the secure, resilient, and scalable foundation needed to support progress across security, climate, energy, and innovation agendas.

Nima Khorrami is a Research Associate at The Arctic Institute.