NCJ Number
191430
Date Published
2000
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This essay examines the human issues of the National Critical Infrastructure from a government perspective.
Abstract
Military capability is increasingly dependent upon society for its everyday needs. The military is essentially a risk-averse organization; it shares this trait with the rest of public service. There are two important reasons for this. The first is that the military remains a large and complex organization, which spends the majority of its existence planning for eventualities that, hopefully, will never happen. Secondly, as a large organization, there is a bureaucratic resistance to change. Supporting technologies are continuing to develop at an exponential pace, and governments operate best against fixed and non-variable targets. Policies must be developed to ensure that society is both prepared for an attack and able to recover key information services as quickly as possible. A fundamental duty of government is to provide security. The military must safeguard their own systems and prepare for the use of offensive cyber-war techniques in confronting a conventional enemy. The interaction of national task groups at the international level must allow for a free flow of information, without any sense of parochialism. A key requirement for nations to cooperate is that of interoperability, both in their doctrine and in their equipment. However, coalitions will continue to experience problems as a result of different perspectives, training philosophies, operational doctrine, rules of engagement, and even historical legacies. International progress will depend upon a better confluence of differing national perspectives. 12 endnotes