This introductory paper begins with a brief contextualization of the stand-alone submissions of this Special Issue. Then, it advances a short reflection on how the internet has transformed society in a relatively short time frame (1990-present) and cautions that democracy must be safeguarded as we proceed into a digital future. An important caveat here is that this argument does not apply to the Special Issue as a whole but is solely the opinion of the present author.
Military and police industries continually strive to enhance processes of training, health care and communications. This involves the successful use of existent technologies and developing new technologies, such as computational intelligence or artificial intelligence (AI). This paper will conduct an extensive review of AI technologies considering sources from scientific bibliographies, data bases and specialized journals. It aims to reveal new approaches, tendencies, and applications of AI by different armies around the world. The comprehension of such vanguard tendencies and the implementation of these technologies within innovative of security and defense products, constitute an opportunity for less technologically developed armies and police departments to enhance their current capabilities.
Over the past two decades, the Department of Defense and security institutions more generally have massively turned to digital technologies to ensure American national security. Yet, despite the promise of maximizing and accelerating processes, including intelligence production, these technologies are met with strong criticism. By exploring different security and defense initiatives, this article suggests that digital technologies function as a distorting prism that shapes intelligence production and creates risks to civil rights and democracy.
(French only)
Crowds and crowded spaces are a fluid concept but they play an important role in security. Crowds can be the threat to security themselves, or provide cover for criminal or hostile actors that are mixed in with unsuspecting citizens. This article discusses the advances that have been made in the field of technological tools used to help secure crowds, whether they are predicted gatherings or spontaneously occurring. A distinction is made between the preparatory stages of security crowds (ante factum), the monitoring of crowds in real-time (in situ), and the use of technology in investigating and responding to a security incident that involves a crowded space (post factum). Lastly, this article will highlight some of the more recent technological advancements in the field of securing crowds and the adverse effects some of those technologies can have on human rights.
As an ever-growing proportion of the North American public turns to social media for news, the threat of foreign influence through foreign publicly funded media has to be assessed. The objective of this research is to determine if Russia pursues political objectives through its media Russia Today (RT). RT’s portrayal of the American government and nationwide police force in relation to the Post-George Floyd/Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, during the summer 2020, was compared with the coverage of these events by the German state media Deutsche Welle (DW). It was found that RT attempted to undermine US institutions through the use of question raising theory, directed reporting, and biased coverage.
Starting from a multidimensional analysis framework made up of six integrated dimensions, fundamental and implicitly used in management, namely: the situational context, the society and culture, the organisational structure, the systemic processes, the political strategy, and the synergy dynamics; we will analyse our technological evolution. In doing so, we will demonstrate that e-Intelligence is the key to the technological battle. Indeed, it is the clever combination of technological and human capabilities that must prevail if we want to maintain a healthy life balance, which at the same time, is more efficient than before. This article argues that from a national security and global defence perspective, that technology presents itself as a double-edged sword, which can be both an opportunity and a threat; fundamentally, it thus is up to the actors to be e-intelligent.
(French only)
Canada faces an array of challenges (and opportunities) in the cyber domain. This essay identifies how the Department of National Defence’s (DND) disposition towards (and approach to) developing and sustaining a cyber-capability is inefficient, and counterproductive to the need. The nature of the Profession of Arms (POA) may be the critical vulnerability facing cyber capability development in Canada’s military. The CAF’s hierarchical command structure, universality of service, terms of reference, and even the general composition of the military are factors which contribute to challenges facing the development of a cyber-capability in the CAF. These factors inhibit the CAF from harnessing the full spectrum of technical talent from society that would be capable of meeting Canada’s cyber defence needs. As a remedy, it is suggested that the CAF look to the officer corps, to leverage Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) and cooperation in a whole-of-government response.
The rise of cell-cultured and plant-based meat alternatives are increasingly promoted as new agri-food technologies that can help mitigate climate change, protect ecosystems, and support global Food Security and Nutrition. This perspective sifts through the arguments made by fake meat proponents and critics to highlight the ways these agri-food technologies offer promise, but also where their application might generate new problems for society.