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European Project ETTIS: European security trends and threats in society
November 2014 by Marc Jacob
As security has evolved into an area of major concern for society, it is increasingly recognized that the sources of security are also deeply rooted in society, and that security should not simply be understood in terms of external threats and appropriate responses. Rather a broad array of actors, which includes citizens, have important roles to play in preparing for, preventing, and responding to potential threats.
Indeed, such a broadened understanding of security has major consequences for security policy as well as implications for the scope of R&I activities to be pursued. This includes the types of R&I to be considered, as well as the governance of security R&I policy - in particular the construction of research programmes and priority setting. As a result, security R&I programmes need to be embedded in, and oriented towards, comprehensive societal security policy objectives.
Systems of R&I need to be built to ensure that new security options and solutions which reflect the complex and social nature of security are developed and introduced into practice. A governance framework for R&I, and for R&I programming and priority-setting in particular, needs to be devised that accommodates such diverse innovation models.
Centralized programme planning needs to be re-balanced with bottom-up mechanisms for defining research and innovation. Monitoring and learning, supported by understanding-oriented research and future anticipation, turn into permanent activities to enhance the adaptivity of the entire programming cycle. In sum, R&I programming should build on a highly flexible and adaptive model that can also draw on more than simply centralized approaches to prioritization and implementation.
