The dynamics of terrorism and organized crime has fundamentally changed. The era of well -classified and geographically contained threats is over. Today’s criminal networks operate in a fluid and borders without quickly exploiting emerging technologies.
Technology redefines the landscape of threats. Criminal organizations use digital platforms, encrypted communications, drones and cyber attacks to spread violence and disrupt companies, which highlights the urgent need for complete and adaptive countermeasures. At the heart of this challenge is an essential gap: sharing and coordination of data. When organizations work with obsolete and disconnected systems, they cannot react fairly quickly to emerging threats.
This integration challenge exists at all levels, from the municipal to the provincial, via the federally and beyond the borders of Canada. The answer is not only better monitoring. Integrated systems must be created which promote rapid and secure sharing of information within organizations and, when these systems are already in place, to increase the value they add to intelligence and operational activities. With the right policies and good analysis tools in place, organizations can share the information necessary to facilitate interventions in a timely manner.
Beyond technology, organizations responsible for our public security are facing a more fundamental challenge: monitoring the pace of change. Today’s threats are evolving quickly, that is to say through basic ideas, actors and operational tools. To keep one step ahead, public defense and security organizations need new approaches to strengthen and update their capacities. They need flexible and scalable systems. And they need teams ready to learn and adapt. This agility is not only a question of efficiency today, but also of the creation of sustainable models capable of dealing with the threats of tomorrow.
The evolution of the landscape of threats requires a fundamental change in the way in which security agencies establish partnerships. The traditional exchange of government information to government is insufficient and can no longer be held for granted. Security organizations must seek to establish new relationships with organizations that can strengthen their capacities and complete their expertise. Thanks to new collaboration networks, organizations can develop more solid responses to complex safety challenges.