INFRAPOLITICS: Strengthening Critical Infrastructure Governance for Resilience and Security (INFRAPOL)

With INFRAPOL, experts will develop the framework of Geopolitics of Critical Infrastructure Governance (GCIG) as an analytical tool for mapping and understanding the interaction between a rapidly changing geopolitical context, and the protection and governance of CIs.

INFRAPOL will explore how public and private actors can address a wide spectrum of challenges related to critical infrastructures such as ports, data centers, subsea cables, and oil and gas pipelines. Critical infrastructure has long been a cornerstone of national security, but is also increasingly central to geopolitical power struggles. Critical infrastructure is subject to complex political and economic pressures, often involving cross-border ownership interests. Public and private actors may have diverging interests – yet they must also cooperate both before and during crises.

INFRAPOL is funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN) through the call Collaborative Project to Meet Societal and Industry-related Challenges. Scientific partners in the project are NUPI and Nord University. Non-scientific partners include the ports of Bodø, Narvik, and Tromsø, WilNor Governmental Services AS, the Norwegian Data Center Industry, Kongsberg Norcontrol, the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB), the Norwegian Joint Headquarters (NJHQ), and the Department for Security and Civil-Military Cooperation at the Norwegian Ministry of Defence.

The project will start in January 2026 and run until the end of 2029. It is part of a broader allocation from the Research Council of Norway, where twelve new research projects will strengthen society’s ability to prevent and manage serious incidents that threaten lives, health, and critical infrastructure.