Preparing for Digital Disruption

This open access book offers an analysis of why preparations for digital disruption should become a stated goal of security policy and policies that aim to safeguard the continuity of critical infrastructure. The increasing use of digital technology implies new and significant vulnerabilities for our society. However, it is striking that almost all cyber-security measures taken by governments, international bodies and other major players are aimed at preventing incidents. But there is no such thing as total digital security. Whether inside or outside the digital domain, incidents can and will occur and may lead to disruption. While a raft of provisions, crisis contingency plans and legal regulations are in place to deal with the possibility of incidents in the ‘real world’, no equivalence exists for the digital domain and digital disruption. Hence, this book uniquely discusses several specific policy measures government and businesses should take in order to be better prepared to dealwith a digital disruption and prevent further escalation.

Dr. E.K. (Erik) Schrijvers is senior research fellow at the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid). He collaborated on several reports, including Big Data in a Free and Safe Society, the Public Core of the Internet and Revaluing Culture. He was also attached on an interim basis to the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, as scientific secretary to the Information Society and Government study group. His research topics include cultural policy, big data and artificial intelligence.  

Prof. dr. J.E.J. (Corien) Prins is currently chair of the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid – www.wrr.nl). The WRR is the independent strategic advisory council to the Dutch cabinet. In addition, she is a professor of law and informatisation at Tilburg University and founder of the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society. Prins is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). She was a member of the Dutch Cyber Security Council (advisory body of the Dutch cabinet on cybersecurity) and several other advisory bodies related to ICT and innovative digital technologies. Her present research topics include legal and regulatory issues of data science and artificial intelligence, the use of innovative digital technologies in courts (legal analytics), privacy and identity management.

Dr. Reijer Passchier Ph.D. LL.M. is an Assistant Professor in Constitutional Law and Legal Theory at the Open University. He is also an Assistant Professor in Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden University. From 2018 until June 2020, Reijer was a Senior Research Fellow at the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR). Reijer published in, amongst other peer-reviewed journals, the Cambridge Journal of Comparative and International Law, the Theory and Practice of Legislation, the Dutch Journal of Constitutional Law and Buffalo Law Review.