Biocybersecurity and Deterrence: Hypothetical Rwandan Considerations

Abstract

Digitalization and sustainability are popular words within modern disciplines as practitioners each look toward the future of their respective fields. Specifically for the African continent, which is making great strides in developmental targets, those two terms are central to core aspects of policy initiatives that may foster cooperation across its varied lands and nations. One of the underlying challenges that confront Africa is a lack of strong regional integration across socioeconomic and political programs; there is value in African regions having more regional connectedness. We assess the rate of regional integration and development in Africa and discuss how to alleviate development crises that could be accelerated by deploying a sustainable cybersecurity strategy, which increasingly includes the bioeconomy and its components. This can be done through the application of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and modern biotechnology. This work suggests that political and socio-economic activities associated with regional integration must be seen as an all-encompassing task that transcends beyond national boundaries towards a cyber biodefense fortification and increases in 4IR technological integration. This has the aim of thereby encompassing efforts to persuade leaders to fast-track policies that seek to promote geospatial cyberinfrastructure, integrative cybersecurity considerations, cross-border digitalization programs, and increased need for cybersecurity research and education, with mindfulness towards education and further integration of mindful automation. In conclusion, a model of integrative security is proposed for Africa.