Perception shift between the classical physical and modern digital notion of critical infrastructures of a state: Elements of diagnosis based on a qualitative study

Over the last two decades, society has been radically transformed by digitization, moving to a more globalized model with transnational interdependencies on multiple aspects allowing the massive and wide transportation and distribution of people, materials, products, services as shown by Aven and Zio (2020). But this globalization of society is creating new risks that current risk management practices sometimes have difficulty identifying and managing, such as cyber-risks, social engineering, social exclusion or reduced commitment to work, where the human factor is always underlying. We notice a shift between the classical physical and modern digital notion of critical infrastructures of a state. This is the case for example for the broadband network or the cyberspace. The shift of some critical infrastructures creates new risks that should not be ignored. When a major incident hits a modern digital critical infrastructure, the handling of the crisis cannot rely on the standard approaches and new ones need to be developed to protect the essential functions of a government, the national security, the national economy or public health as described by Hull et al. (2006). The event could have a negative impact on other infrastructures as well as explained by Löschel et al. (2010). In this paper, we have taken an interest in the role that the governments should play in the identification and the management of the risks of its critical digital infrastructures in particular with the increased interdependencies of the GAFAM. We have conducted semi-directive interviews of different people from the public or private sectors with a direct or indirect experience with crisis management. The findings of this research have enabled us to develop a diagnosis template to better assess and respond to the risks of new digitalized critical infrastructures.