Society
Civil security is a mainstay of quality of life and prosperity in Germany. It is part of an all-encompassing concept of security and is closely linked to societal change.
The aim of civil security research is to help shape change in society’s security cultures and institutional security architectures. As well as the best scientific and technical solutions, there is a need for innovative approaches to security that match the practical requirements of organisations and society. The aim is to design security technologies and services that cater for the needs and expectations of the public.
Civil security is an important economic factor. Germany benefits from its high level of security and powerful high-tech solutions and innovative services help maintain that high level. They also open up the opportunity to make Germany a leading market for security solutions. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) particularly tend to play a pioneering role in technological progress in this area and serve as an important interface for knowledge transfer from research to practice.
In the cross-sectional-oriented “Society and the economy” section of the programme, researchers are working on topics related to the future role and relevance of civil security in Germany. As well as exploring fundamental legal and ethical issues concerning civil security, this includes identifying and assessing future societal and technical risks. Other key areas of this work are research into the economic consequences of change processes in security culture and translation of developed solutions and technologies into marketable security products.
