Power outages, interrupted networks, destroyed radio masts – disasters such as Hurricane “Melissa” in the Caribbean show how vulnerable communication infrastructures are. Europe is also not sufficiently prepared for such crises. TransformIT Europe is making resilience the main topic – and inviting politics, business and research to participate in a European resilience network as part of the trade fair and conference in Brussels.
By Jan Nintemann and Jochen Siegle; Photo: Imkara Visual via Unsplash
When disasters strike, whether natural disasters, cyber attacks or technical errors, every minute counts. But what if the communication systems fail precisely then? Power outages, destroyed radio masts or interrupted fiber optic cables can cut entire regions off from information – with potentially fatal consequences.
Centralization Creates Vulnerability
In recent decades, communication infrastructure has become highly centralized. A few companies control the majority of networks and cloud services, and critical Internet nodes are concentrated in a few locations. This dependency leads to so-called “single points of failure”: If one fails, the whole chain collapses.
Researchers at MIT have been warning about this risk for years and are calling for decentralized fallback networks – alternative communication channels that can automatically take over in the event of a crisis.
Lessons from Real Disasters
Whether Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean or the flood disaster in the Ahrtal in 2021: Power supply and communication networks fail again and again. In the Ahrtal, mobile communications, landlines and public authorities’ radio failed – warnings were not issued, and the coordination of the emergency services collapsed.
Redundancy saves lives. The Critical Infrastructure Working Group (AG KRITIS), for example, is therefore calling for mobile radio stations, satellite communication and interoperable networks – systems that also work when nothing else works.
Resilience is a Must, not a Luxury
As a European platform for digital transformation, TransformIT Europe is calling for digital resilience to be made a priority – across national and industry boundaries.
The focus is on the question: How do we create a resilient, decentralized infrastructure for a Europe in crisis mode? The goal is a resilient, sovereign and networked digital future – because Europe can only remain capable of acting if communication also works in a crisis.
Sources & Links
