Preparations for establishing an Arctic SDI have been ongoing for a number of years. At the GeoNorth conferences in 2007and 2009 the establishment of an Arctic SDI was proposed. During the same period the Arctic Council Working Groupsreleased a number of reports which stressed the need for an Arctic SDI (CAFF 2008, CAFF, AMAP, and EPPR 2009). 

An Arctic SDI based on sustainable co-operation between mandated national mappingorganisations will provide for access to spatially related reliable information over the Arcticto facilitate monitoring and decision making.  It will allow for the creation of a harmonized map covering the entire arctic region. This will facilitate more robust handling and manipulation of data for both research and management purposes.

The Arctic SDI will be developed, maintained and administered by the circumpolar National Mapping Agencies. The mapping agencies will provide the Arctic SDI with the necessary experts, national geographic information and systems to allow the development of the Arctic SDI.  The project is being led by Greenland, via CAFF who will facilitate and coordinate the development of the Arctic SDI with the other Arctic Council working groups. CAFF will also supply regular reports to the Senior Arctic Officials of the Arctic Council on the status and progress of the Arctic SDI. All Arctic Council countries have now approved the ASDI project and the planning stage is underway.