The Task Force charge is to coordinate a circumpolar assessment of telecommunications infrastructure and networks and deliver a completed assessment and recommendations for public-private partnerships to enhance telecommunications access and service in the Arctic to the Arctic Council by the end of the U.S. Chairmanship in 2017.
Representatives from all Arctic Council Member States attended the meeting, as did representatives of Permanent Participants the Aleut International Association (AIA), the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) and the Saami Council. Accredited Observers Germany and UArctic were also present, as were several invited experts. Karl Kowalski, of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, serves as the UArctic representative.
Read the full arcticle here written by Karl Kowalski.
Karl Kowalski is the Chief Information Technology Officer for the University of Alaska Fairbanks and University of Alaska System and is the UArctic representative to the Arctic Council’s Task Force on Telecommunications Infrastructure in the Arctic.