NCJ Number
189108
Journal
Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Dated: May/June 2001 Pages: 183-213
Date Published
May 2001
Length
31 pages
Annotation
The process through which terrorist groups seek out and deploy new technology is examined by analyzing the literature that exists on technology adoption by commercial organizations.
Abstract
Because of the importance of technology to the operations of modern terrorist groups, the factors that affect the technological sophistication of extreme organizations are of great interest. These factors include the nature of the technology, external communications links and the characteristics of technology sources, the environment of the terrorist group, characteristics of group leadership and structure, availability of financial and human resources, and group longevity. A framework was designed to delineate not only the factors that influence a group’s decision-making processes surrounding new technology but also the obstacles that stand in the way of the successful absorption and use of unfamiliar technologies by a terrorist organization. By taking a holistic view of the entire technology adoption process, this framework sets out a methodology to both more reasonably predict the outcome of a group’s technology-seeking efforts and to speculate about its future innovation efforts. Such a technology focused viewpoint provides a route to more fully inform risk assessment, especially with regard to the low probability-high consequence technologies that have served as the focus of much recent counterterrorist deliberation. 109 notes.