Author(s)

N. Gronau, T. Röchert-Voigt & N. Proske

Abstract

The presented ongoing research project focuses on the challenges concerning the protection of critical infrastructures. Since critical infrastructures become more and more cross-linked a single breakdown can cause serious cascading effects on other infrastructures. Interdependencies of critical infrastructures are boundaryspanning and therefore public authorities, operating companies and other stakeholders (e.g. German Federal Agency for technical relief, Red Cross) as well as stakeholders of neighbouring states must have access to a solution which enables the urgently needed cooperation of all parties involved. The aim of the project is to develop an online platform to facilitate knowledge exchange among stakeholders, an online tool to analyse the interdependencies and to design a sustainable and effective knowledge management. This platform will allow registered members to find and make use of the information about the stakeholders and their competencies concerning the protection of critical infrastructures. Keywords: EUKRITIS, online-platform, information exchange, knowledge-map, interdependency, social software, Web 2.0, knowledge management, networking, cross-linking. 1 Introduction – why knowledge management? Providing security is without any doubt one of the main functions of a state. For philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes is the ability of guaranteeing security constitutive for a state. Without this ability, states are futile. In order to provide security states use specific instruments that, according to the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, also represent a certain period of state regulation

Keywords

EUKRITIS, online-platform, information exchange, knowledge-map, interdependency, social software, Web 2.0, knowledge management, networking, cross-linking