Resilience and Agility: Managing and Mitigating Evolving Threats in a Hyperconnected World

Resilience and Agility:Managing an

Resilience and Agility: Managing and Mitigating Evolving Threats in a Hyperconnected World

By Hassan Abul-Enein, GCSP Alumnus and Policy and strategy consultant

Key Points

  • Evolving threats are gradual and continuously developing situations that threaten or cause disruptions and harm to interests across an expansive landscape by manifesting and augmenting a variety of risks across the political, economic and social spheres. They often snowball and increasingly impact a multiplicity of stakeholders.
  • Due to their evolving nature and widespread and varying manifestations, these types of threats emphasise the need for resilient and agile responses from governments, businesses and society that allow them to contain, mitigate and navigate such crises.
  • In order to develop resilience and agility in a world characterised by hypoconnectivity, organisations need to invest in four key pillars: strategic management and foresight; human capital, diversity and leadership; collaboration and partnerships; and technology and innovation.
  • Investments of this kind will support effective and timely riskassessments and decision-making, enhance resource mobilisation and allocation, promote problem-solving, foster creativity, and encourage organisations to explore new frontiers and growth opportunities.They will also unite actors around shared values, knowledge and intelligence, help to consolidate safety and security buffers, and promote the development of transferable skills and mobility.

Hassan Abul-Enein is a GCSP Alumnus, Future of Outer Space Security Course (March 2016), a former GCSP Young Fellow and a policy and strategy consultant that has worked for the United Nations and the private sector. He holds a MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA from the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations.