ArcTech data contest selects Arctic's best digital service products

The winners of the ArcTech Data contest included projects to analyse mining risk, assess tourism demand for the optimal development of infrastructure, and improve medical care in the Arctic. The ArcTech Data contest, which took place in St. Petersburg on 11 August 11, is part of the 2023 Arctic Technology Contest (ArcTech) and among the events of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023, which are managed by the Roscongress Foundation.

Practical solutions that will improve people’s lives, introduce innovations, and improve infrastructure in the Arctic. So, we evaluated the applicability of the solutions in practical life, the extent to which modern data processing algorithms and technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are used, the friendliness of the interface of the services developed by the contestants, as well as the team’s willingness to introduce what they had started. We selected the winners based on these criteria,” Eastern State Planning Centre Director Mikhail Kuznetsov said.

The ArcTech Data contest brought together more than 110 product and IT teams. The participants spent two months developing digital services as part of three pillars of sustainable development: ‘Arctic Ecology’, ‘Arctic Tourism’, and ‘Arctic Urbanization’. The winning project in each of the three pillars received funding to further develop solutions. The prize fund is RUB 500,000 for first place, RUB 350,000 for second, and RUB 150,000 for third.

“The ArcTech contest provides us with an opportunity to talk about the development of a branch of engineering management that is increasingly in demand. We see how the role of the Arctic region is growing as part of the global energy transition,” said NikolayKorchunov, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials.