To promote the strategic objectives of NORDUnet and to advance goals in the NORDUnet strategy, NORDUnet will often launch a strategic initiative.  

Such strategic initiatives often actively run in parallel. They are usually launched as partnerships, with one or more Nordic NRENs or in close collaboration with one or more of our valued partners in the global research and education networking community; however, strategic initiatives can also be undertaken by NORDUnet alone.

Strategic initiatives may be launched to develop or deploy a new service believed to carry strategic importance in the future, or to develop a core infrastructure that going forward will allow NORDUnet to deliver new or existing services more cost efficiently or with higher quality of service.  A strategic initiative may have a technology focus, or it may embody a close collaboration to seek to establish new forms of partnership, new ways of delivering service together or jointly supporting a community, or new ways of engaging with the private sector.

Strategic initiatives are often characterized as pathfinders, i.e. small, focused trials of new ideas done in real-world circumstances in order to pave the way towards fundamental changes in how NORDUnet and the NREN community operate.