Lecture on resilience in communication technology

This question was addressed by a panel of experts in a three-part series of events at the end of October. Information and communication technology encompasses all communication applications, including radio, television, smartphones and all computer-related hardware and software. The first two workshops were held remotely and looked at the topic of resilience from a 360-degree perspective. While the first event focused on the original concept of resilience in psychology and biology, the workshop on October 17 concentrated on the topic in business, technology and law.

 ANALYSIS OF RESILIENCE IN THE ECONOMY

Prof. (FH) PD Dr. Christoph Hauser, Vice Director of Studies Bachelor International Business Studies and Master International Business Studies at Kufstein University, presented the perspective of economics. He began by distinguishing between the terms resilience and robustness on the basis of a comparison between an oak tree and a reed. While an oak tree can easily withstand minor and even major gusts of wind, the reed bends immediately under the influence of wind and weather. On the other hand, the latter has much better conditions for extreme weather phenomena such as a hurricane, to which even deeply rooted oaks can fall victim. The situation is similar for an economy that is diversified in many ways and can therefore absorb economic shocks better than a highly specialized location. Only a comprehensive resilience strategy can sustainably strengthen an economy's ability to recover through political initiatives. Targeted measures in the areas of education, social and industrial policy are essential for a high degree of innovation and diversification.

BALANCE BETWEEN DIVERSITY AND COMPLEXITY          

Martin Rothfelder from Siemens AG then discussed how redundancy and diversity can be built into a technical system and thus increase the system's resilience. A sustainable balance between diversity and complexity is essential in order to minimize the system's susceptibility to disruption. According to Christian Frank from Taylor Wessing, such a balance must also be struck between an undefined legal concept and static regulations for highly resilient AI systems. In this respect, a high level of abstraction of the requirements is usually the consequence.

The last part of the workshop took place on October 25 at the Literaturhaus in Munich under the title “What does resilience in ICT mean and how can it be achieved?”. Christoph Hauser concluded: “In a world that we do not understand, it is often better to be a reed than an oak.”