New Whitepapers: The Nordics must strengthen their digital preparedness to avoid a digital blackout

National, sector-specific emergency plans are no longer enough to protect the Nordic region from a large-scale digital outage. In a series of new whitepapers, GlobalConnect calls for a strategic shift—treating digital infrastructure as a security asset, on par with the energy and supply sectors, and more Nordic collaboration

Several days without internet across large parts of a country may sound unlikely. But according to GlobalConnect’s new Digital Resilience whitepapers, it is a real and rising risk the Nordics must prepare for. A “perfect storm” of physical sabotage, cyberattacks, and weak coordination could trigger a digital breakdown with severe consequences for society and the economy.

The reportsmap the region’s digital backbone and highlight shared vulnerabilities across sectors and borders. Together, they conclude that the Nordic countries must move from fragmented, sector-specific preparedness to a common strategy for digital resilience.

“Digital infrastructure is not just communication—it is society’s lifeblood” says Martin Lippert, Group CEO of GlobalConnect.
“From healthcare and banking to transportation and logistics, everything depends on connectivity. To safeguard that, we need to go beyond siloed emergency plans and build a unified Nordic approach -anchored in national security, operational readiness, and cross-border collaboration.”

When the network fails, society follows
The whitepapers illustrate how deeply society relies on continuous connectivity -and how untested many fallback systems remain. A prolonged outage would not only disrupt payments, logistics, and healthcare, but also shake confidence in institutions and critical services.

Scenario descriptions in the whitepapers show, that across the region, even short connectivity losses can escalate rapidly. Within hours, coordination between healthcare, finance, and transport begins to falter. Within days, trust in digital services and government response fails.

From Fragmented Preparedness to Shared Resilience
The reports call for a structural shift in how the Nordic countries plan, fund, and test their digital preparedness. They outline three strategic initiatives to strengthen resilience across the Nordic region:

1. Nordic Digital Resilience Shield – A formalized Nordic collaboration with shared backup systems and protection of critical digital infrastructure, while safeguarding national sovereignty and data storage requirements.
2. Black Sky Simulation Series – A recurring series of practical exercises testing multi-sector, multi-day digital disruptions, aiming to go beyond simulations and achieve real operational validation.
3. National Digital Resilience Certification – A certification model for assessing and documenting preparedness and operational continuity among critical actors, focused on actual resilience rather than formal compliance. The framework should be non-bureaucratic and simple to apply for operators of all sizes.

“A shift in preparedness requires more than technology -it requires a shared sense of responsibility,” adds Lippert. “We must build that mindset into the Nordic DNA, through joint procedures, full-scale exercises, and robust backup environments that allow us to recover quickly when a digital crisis hits.”

Digital Infrastructure as National Security
GlobalConnect’s whitepapers underline that digital infrastructure should be treated as part of national security—critical to both societal stability and competitiveness.

As hybrid threats increase, undersea cables face sabotage, and geopolitical tension grows; the Nordics have a unique opportunity to lead Europe in digital resilience through coordinated investment and preparedness.

About the Whitepapers
Digital Resilience – Securing the Nordic Region’s Digital Infrastructure Amid Growing Uncertainty and Geopolitical Risks is a three-part series developed by GlobalConnect, drawing on data, case studies, and insights from public–private initiatives.

The analyses of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway reveal that the Nordic countries face similar risks—and that true resilience will require shared responsibility, investment, and coordinated action.