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CSM Course Security Networks and Technology: ‘Governing the security-technology nexus’

One of the core concepts of the Master programme Crisis & Security Management (CSM) is ‘governance’. In the course Security Networks and Technology, the focus is on the interplay between various levels of security governance and new technological developments.

Interdisciplinary approach

But how should we go about governing the complex security problems related to the rapid development of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Blockchain or the rise of deepfakes? And how can we leverage new technologies to address the diversity of existing and emerging security issues such as critical infrastructure failures, local crime, growing disinformation, cryptocurrency fraud, or the continuing erosion of personal privacy?

Assistant professor Vlad Niculescu-Dinca: ‘In this course we take an interdisciplinary approach to address these topics, drawing on the latest insights in Security Studies, Science and Technology Studies, Public Administration, Surveillance Studies and Philosophy of Technology. The course benefits also from the expertise of a panoply of practitioners and researchers at the intersection of security and technology, dealing with issues such as undermining criminality, ethnic profiling or police cooperation.’

‘Learning by doing’

Throughout the course, students engage in a role-playing game, experiencing first-hand the challenges of establishing security networks and proposing new solutions to this kind of wicked problems. They engage in negotiations and cooperation with each other to arrive at collaborative solutions that are both addressing the common security problem and safeguard their own interests. On Monday 22 May, in the last session, students presented the solutions they worked on throughout the course.

Vlad Niculescu-Dinca: ‘Their creative and thought through solutions demonstrate that our alumni could take up any job in the governance of security!’

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