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About the Arctic Inventory

The Arctic Infrastructure Inventory (AII) is the centerpiece of an initiative tracking infrastructure projects and economic development and activity trends across the Arctic, with an initial 8,000 projects listed. As the Arctic grows in political and economic importance across the globe, the Inventory aims to become a public resource for all stakeholders in Arctic infrastructure—including policymakers, industry, researchers, non-governmental organizations, investors, and more.

In addition to its standalone value, AII will serve as an anchor for the larger Polar Institute initiative focused on Arctic economic development. This initiative, when fully matured, will host public seminars and conferences, produce an array of written publications, and support leading scholarship. Two key aspects of AII currently in development are a GIS feature, which will allow Inventory users to interact with the information both geographically and chronologically, and implementing satellite imaging. 

The initial inventory was created by Guggenheim Partners in 2014, in tandem with the Arctic Investment Protocol. In December 2019, Guggenheim transferred the Inventory to the Wilson Center, so that it could become a public resource and thereby better serve Arctic communities.