UiT and Aker Nscale to collaborate on major AI initiative
On Wednesday, Aker Nscale and UiT The Arctic University of Norway entered into a ten-year partnership agreement to develop and strengthen the expertise in artificial intelligence in Narvik and Northern Norway. Aker Nscale is committing 100 million Norwegian kroner over the course of the agreement.
The agreement is described as a milestone in the effort to build a world-class Norwegian AI ecosystem and is the largest collaboration agreement UiT has entered into with a private sector entity.
On Wednesday, Norway’s Digitalisation Minister Karianne Tung laid the foundation stone for what will become Europe's largest data centre for artificial intelligence, located in Bjerkvik in the municipality of Narvik. Aker Nscale is behind the initiative, with OpenAI and Microsoft as two key clients.
Establishing Two Centres
The agreement entails that UiT will establish the Aker Nscale Innovation Centre Narvik @UiT – an interdisciplinary innovation centre for artificial intelligence (AI). The centre’s ambition is to promote innovation, facilitate access to advanced technology, and connect research communities with both established industries and start-ups. The centre will also offer innovation training and work on recruitment and public outreach.
Additionally, UiT will establish a new research centre that will consolidate the university’s AI research across faculties and departments. This centre will be central to further developing world-class AI environments.
The agreement also paves the way for projects that support business development and collaboration with national and international academic communities.
Strengthening UiT’s AI Initiative
Bente Haug, UiT’s Vice-Rector for Region and Society, emphasises that the establishment of an innovation centre and a new interdisciplinary research centre for artificial intelligence at UiT contributes to both consolidating and strengthening the university’s AI efforts across academic disciplines.
'At the same time, the agreement is a tangible expression of UiT’s strategy, ‘Driving Force in the North’, where we commit ourselves to promoting groundbreaking knowledge development and contributing to local and regional development in society and industry,' said Haug.
She also highlighted that UiT will allocate its own resources to projects resulting from the collaboration.
The opportunities being created in Narvik, with Aker Nscale’s establishment in Bjerkvik and the innovation centre at UiT in Narvik, are enormous.
A World-Class AI Environment
'This partnership lays the foundation for Narvik to become a hub for Norwegian AI development. Together with UiT, we are building a long-term initiative that will strengthen expertise, research, and technology development across Northern Norway. We believe this will help create and develop world-class AI environments,' said Kristian Røkke, CEO of Aker Nscale.
The agreement will take effect on 1 January 2026 and will run for ten years.
National Production
Digitalisation and Administration Minister Karianne Tung emphasised that the establishment of data centres in Norway should contribute to increased value creation and that having centres on Norwegian soil ensures that critical digital services can be produced nationally rather than abroad. She also praised UiT’s role in advancing knowledge development in this area.
'The opportunities being created in Narvik, with Aker Nscale’s establishment in Bjerkvik and the innovation centre at UiT in Narvik, are enormous. My clear advice is to work systematically with relevant stakeholders, the business sector and research communities now. Make yourselves attractive,' she said.
Microsoft is one of the clients of the data centre in Bjerkvik, in which the company is now investing 66 billion Norwegian kroner.
'We are doing this because we want to invest in Norway and ensure that we can store data on Norwegian soil, ' said Kristine Dahl Steidel, Managing Director of Microsoft Norway.
She highlighted that Microsoft is already actively recruiting from UiT and is eager to further develop this collaboration through the initiative outlined in the agreement between UiT and Aker Nscale.
Along with several others, Steidel pointed out that both the development of AI technology and its usage are increasing at a rapid pace. A recent report from Microsoft also shows that only two countries in the world currently have a higher proportion of AI users than Norway.
