Social aspects of safety and security research
Security has always been an important part of society, and guaranteeing it is one of the state’s main priorities. This includes restoring things to a safe and secure status in the event of malfunctions or attacks, and preventing such incidents from taking place altogether. Moreover, the responsibility for the safe and secure running of infrastructures lies with the operator, who must comply with the resulting requirements. This assignment of tasks occurs through legal norms and voiced public interest, but also arises not least due to economic interest in achieving reliable and efficient processes. Technical and organisational measures that serve safety and security are regularly examined within the context of the basic principles of social order, such as freedom. This provides the stakeholders with a social responsibility that goes beyond the conventional role of a technology consumer. The scope of this discourse equally extends into questions of ethics, law and sociology – all of which require that we look at this from different perspectives. The Institute for the Protection of Maritime Infrastructures is conducting research into these issues in order to ensure that they are given proper consideration.
Research projects are first analysed for their ethical and moral implications within the framework of the accompanying research. At this stage, both the intended objective and the planned methodology and approach are assessed for any potential conflict, as well as their ethical aspects. For this purpose, the needs of interest groups are systematically examined against the backdrop of the planned research. Alongside the project, internal and external communications cover how to assess the priority of identified needs.
The smooth running of research projects is supported by examining and commenting on the legal conformity of the planned research and testing. The development and testing of new technologies in the context of existing infrastructures can result in complex legal issues that make it necessary to coordinate research projects closely with legislative, judicial and executive bodies, so that their different areas of competence can be considered. Regulatory loopholes that could prevent the use of enhanced safety and security technologies, or that hamper the regulation of technologies potentially detrimental to safety and security, are being investigated in order to provide those responsible for safety and security with optimal access to technologies, and to enable their informed use.
Social aspects of safety and security research arise in discourse surrounding ethical evaluation, particularly with regard to this sector’s legal anchoring within society. Governmental and non-governmental provision of safety and security always serves the functioning of a society within ethical and legal norms. Social conflicts often have an explosive effect when they concern the topic of safety and security and protection in general, and the means of guaranteeing them in particular.
The aim of the research being carried out at the Institute for the Protection of Maritime Infrastructures is to help improve the safety and security of infrastructures through technological and methodological innovation. This includes achieving social acceptance of objectively necessary safety and security concepts and the creation of research objectives in order to foster a feeling of safety within society. Within the framework of the research projects, the ethical, legal and social aspects are being worked on by a separate research group, which will feed the results directly into the project planning and process. In addition to the project-based accompanying research, independent research projects are addressing ethical, legal and social issues that are, or could, prove to be relevant within the context of safety and security research. The results will be made available to interested and affected groups in order to help shape the social dimension of safety and security research in a transparent way.