ICT Resilience as Dynamic Process and Cumulative Aptitude

Abstract

Many definitions of resilience coexist today, whether within the domain of telecommunications or in the vaster world. Is it a process? Is it a production? Is it a learnt aptitude? This debate has been going on in social sciences for decades and ICT revives it in its own ways today. This chapter proposes a definition of resilience founded on three findings: (1) resilience is the aptitude of a sociotechnical system to surmount a crisis; (2) whether in the telecommunication sector or elsewhere, a crisis is an experience of collapse that stems from critical incidents; (3) critical incidents are a complex dynamic phenomenon, and resilience is its counterpart, a dynamic, adaptive attempt to master circumstances, a form of dynamic struggle against adversity. To support this thesis, first the chapter reviews some of the main elements of literature on hand, browsing through different currents of research, including computing science and social sciences. Next, the chapter presents a short analysis of some significant incidents to show their dynamic nature and how systems they affect collapse and react, possibly resiliently. Third, it suggests an articulated definition of resilience, very applicable to ICT and largely discussed with scientists and professionals in the past three years. The chapter concludes that this definition acts as a paradigm that opens new questions for research, standardisation, and change management projects.