AICIS is a project-based organization. From its inception, it was decided that all AICIS projects should be of strategic relevance to Åland and that knowledge from other islands and regions abroad should be looked at comparatively in order to shed new light on Åland issues. In its first master project, The Nordic Approach. A study of the strategic recipes and competitive behaviours of the Nordic Shipping finance and marine insurance industries, not only Ålandic, but Nordic shipping banks and marine insurance companies were investigated. The outcome of the study, however, can be used by Ålandic companies with a strategic goal to position themselves in the international arena.

In its new master project Metropolitan states and regional economic autonomy – a zero sum power game or a win-win partnership?, the international focus becomes even wider. Through some international comparisons (such as the Faroe Islands, Madeira and the Basque Country) the situation of the Åland economic autonomy will be analyzed and discussed. The question is: on what foundation should a win-win partnership between Åland and Finland be based?

Projects such as these have a general relevance to Åland. But AICIS also works in close partnership with individual clients. Two tailor-made projects have been conducted in partnership with the Viking Line ferry company and the Government of Åland, respectively. The latter, entitled A Green Åland in a Blue Baltic Sea, has mobilized various stakeholders within the Åland society through seminars, workshops and various events. The empirical material that AICIS has gathered in this project will now be used as the input for a new research project called The emergence of a clean tech cluster in the Åland Islands. Tailor-made and “independent” projects cross-fertilize the operations of AICIS.