A broad range of different agencies are involved in Critical Infrastructure Protection. Exchange between politicians, corporations, and academics is of paramount importance. However, cooperation must not be limited to the national level: The issue of CIP has a strong international component, not least because of the high degree of interdependence between critical infrastructures. Therefore, the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP) organises an international CIP conference of its own (the International Conference on Critical Infrastructure and Resilience ICCR), while also participating in relevant conferences on CIP in order to provide information on Swiss activities and to foster information exchange.
Events on Critical Infrastructure Protection
The FOCP’s ICCR conference
On 26 and 27 August 2007, the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP) held a conference on Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) in Davos. Eighteen noted experts from Switzerland and abroad offered an in-depth look at various aspects of CIP in six rounds of discussions. One of the main focal issues of the 1st International Conference on CIP and Resilience (ICCR) was the concept of integral risk management. The conference showed, among other aspects, that it is possible to enhance the protection of critical infrastructure beyond the physical aspect by applying a holistic approach. In this context, the reinforcement of social and systemic resilience is of particular importance.
The ICCR took place within the framework of the International Disaster and Risk Conference (IDRC), which was attended by over 1.200 people from more than 100 countries over the course of one week. The ICCR was the continuation of a series of five conferences that were organised as Switzerland’s contribution to the Partnership for Peace (PfP) and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) between 2003 and 2007.
The ICCR took place within the framework of the International Disaster and Risk Conference (IDRC), which was attended by over 1.200 people from more than 100 countries over the course of one week. The ICCR was the continuation of a series of five conferences that were organised as Switzerland’s contribution to the Partnership for Peace (PfP) and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) between 2003 and 2007.
External events
FOCP’s participation in Critis’11: Conference on Critical Infrastructure Protection
For several years, the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Protection FOCP has occupied itself with critical infrastructure protection (CIP), together with experts from science, industry and government. As a consequence, the FOCP has participated in the 6th international conference Critis’11 at the University of Applied Sciences Lucerne. The conference hosted international experts from governmental authorities, science and industry. The participants have discussed various challenges affecting the topic of CIP openly in a constructive atmosphere. Issues like survivability of critical information infrastructure, Internet vulnerability, cyber-threats or security issues regarding new applicatons like Smart Grids and Cloud Computing were discussed. International partnerships as well as forensic methods to get on to the track of Internet criminals were discussed, too.
The international conference Critis has taken place for the sixth time. Critis’ aim is to gather together experts from science, politics, administration and industry so as to improve the protection of critical infrastructure at the national and international level.
- IRRIIS & CRUTIAL: Public Workshop
The FOCP participated in a workshop of the international research projects IRRIIS (Integrated Risk Reduction of Information-based Infrastructure Systems) and CRUTIAL (CRitical Utility InfrastructurAL resilience) on 3 and 4 February 2009. Also, an FOCP representative took part as a speaker in the final discussion.
Further information
- Risk Dialogue Foundation: Blackout: Vernetzt - Verletzt?
On 29 October 2008, several experts met in Zurich to discuss the significance of IT systems for energy supply. Among other aspects, specialists from the IT and energy sectors assessed risks and threats arising in this context.
Further information
- CRITIS 08
The third International Workshop on Critical Infrastructure Protection (CRITIS 08) took place in Frascati, Italy from 13-15 October 2008. The emphasis was on challenges arising in the context of critical information infrastructures. The FOCP was represented in the committee reviewing academic contributions, while the head of the CIP Programme also took part as a speaker at the final discussion.
Further information