Socio-technical Approach Research Articles

Making Energy Markets: The Origins of Electricity Liberalisation in Europe by Ronan Bolton

Reviewed by: Making Energy Markets: The Origins of Electricity Liberalisation in Europe by Ronan Bolton Yves Bouvier (bio) Making Energy Markets: The Origins of Electricity Liberalisation in Europe By Ronan Bolton. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021. Pp. 367. As happens so often, the reader who hopes to find in this book a historical analysis of the title (Making Energy Markets) will be disappointed. Ronan Bolton's book, on the other hand, will provide much more enlightenment on the subtitle (The Origins of Electricity Liberalisation in Europe). The clarification is not insignificant, because the author does not deal with energy as a whole but only with electricity. Bolton presents a precise analysis of the movement initiated in the United Kingdom by the transformations of the Central Electricity Generating Board, which spread throughout Europe under the term "liberalization" during the 1990s. After a first part devoted to the United Kingdom, the author then describes liberalization in what he calls the "heart of Europe" (Germany, France, the European Commission) before focusing on the case of the Nordic countries, especially Norway, in the third part of the book. This structure may be surprising, but it is convincing in a dynamic systems approach in which technology, politics, and economics are intertwined. In the case of Norway, for instance, the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen invented the structure-conduct-performance paradigm to justify the export of surplus hydroelectricity. According to the author, the European Commission's strategy was initially to generalize the British market model before integrating, at the beginning of the 1990s, a complexity linked to the diversity of energy sources in each member state. The interest of the book is not in the claimed socio-technical approach. Indeed, in placing himself in the tradition of Thomas P. Hughes, the author leaves not much space for technology and does not avoid the sacralization of the combined-cycle gas turbine. Similarly, he tends to make the technologies disappear behind the energy sources while reinforcing national stereotypes: gas for the United Kingdom, nuclear for France, coal for Germany, and hydroelectricity for Norway. Bolton thus leaves aside most of the concepts of "networks of power," including that of momentum, and does not go further into Richard Hirsh's theses as one might have hoped. For the technical aspects of electrical networks, he quotes the works of Vincent Lagendijk and Arne Kaijser but completely ignores the work on the history of computing, which is surprising for the period covered. Seeing in competition and the market an answer to the blockages of national systems is a repetition of the economic discourse and underestimates the permanence of competition in the electrical field. On this point, we can regret the gaps in the bibliography on the economic and political history of European construction: the complex nature of the notion of the market in Europe since the oil crisis (Warlouzet, Governing Europe in a Globalizing World, 2018) and the existence of a European view [End Page 597] of electricity for nearly one hundred years (Lagendijk, Electrifying Europe, 2008) before the liberalization of the 1990s arrived. The discussion forums of the International Energy Agency and the OECD (Schmelzer, The Hegemony of Growth, 2017) are simply ignored. Nevertheless, it is in the analysis of the inception of the electricity market through the debates on its regulation that Bolton's book effectively informs the history of technology. The pages devoted to the tensions of regulation perfectly translate the limits of the economic conception of markets on the one hand, and the only partial dependence on energy technologies on the other (chs. 4 and 7). In these intellectual, economic, and political margins, a regulated market is emerging in the United Kingdom. All the players, all the institutions, all the technical bodies have been involved at one time or another in this initiation of an electricity market. By combining long-term strategic analyses and micropolitical actions, the author highlights the unstable forms of electricity markets. The impossible quest for a long-term equilibrium in the electricity market is the main outcome of this book, for the United Kingdom in the late 1980s as for the European Union ten years later. Thus, the concluding chapter sets this period of...

Telecommunications and natural disasters in rural Australia: The role of digital capability in building disaster resilience

Telecommunications infrastructure and services are essential for rural communities to respond to natural disasters, like bushfires, cyclones and floods. Such disasters are becoming increasingly frequent in rural Australia. This cross-disciplinary study draws together community disaster resilience and digital capability concepts to address a critical gap in our understanding how rural individuals and organisations can effectively prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters using telecommunications. The study adopts an ethnographic methodology, including semi-structured interviews and community workshops, in rural Far North Queensland, Australia. A socio-technical approach enabled the authors to analytically highlight both technical and social aspects of digital capability at each phase of disaster resilience: preparedness, response, and recovery. In contrast to the dominant focus on technical infrastructure and capability in the literature, this study builds on emerging work focused on social factors of disaster resilience that are facilitated by digital technologies. It particularly demonstrates how digital capabilities contribute to the essential disaster resilience factors of social capital, community competence, economic development, and information and communication. This research problem is particularly critical as rural Australia and other parts of the country and the world experience more frequent and more severe natural disasters.

Assessing the Quality and Impact of eHealth Tools: Systematic Literature Review and Narrative Synthesis.

Technological advancements have opened the path for many technology providers to easily develop and introduce eHealth tools to the public. The use of these tools is increasingly recognized as a critical quality driver in health care; however, choosing a quality tool from the myriad of tools available for a specific health need does not come without challenges. This review aimed to systematically investigate the literature to understand the different approaches and criteria used to assess the quality and impact of eHealth tools by considering sociotechnical factors (from technical, social, and organizational perspectives). A structured search was completed following the participants, intervention, comparators, and outcomes framework. We searched the PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest databases for studies published between January 2012 and January 2022 in English, which yielded 675 results, of which 40 (5.9%) studies met the inclusion criteria. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines and the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions were followed to ensure a systematic process. Extracted data were analyzed using NVivo (QSR International), with a thematic analysis and narrative synthesis of emergent themes. Similar measures from the different papers, frameworks, and initiatives were aggregated into 36 unique criteria grouped into 13 clusters. Using the sociotechnical approach, we classified the relevant criteria into technical, social, and organizational assessment criteria. Technical assessment criteria were grouped into 5 clusters: technical aspects, functionality, content, data management, and design. Social assessment criteria were grouped into 4 clusters: human centricity, health outcomes, visible popularity metrics, and social aspects. Organizational assessment criteria were grouped into 4 clusters: sustainability and scalability, health care organization, health care context, and developer. This review builds on the growing body of research that investigates the criteria used to assess the quality and impact of eHealth tools and highlights the complexity and challenges facing these initiatives. It demonstrates that there is no single framework that is used uniformly to assess the quality and impact of eHealth tools. It also highlights the need for a more comprehensive approach that balances the social, organizational, and technical assessment criteria in a way that reflects the complexity and interdependence of the health care ecosystem and is aligned with the factors affecting users' adoption to ensure uptake and adherence in the long term.

SEMI-AUTONOMOUS GROUPS AND WORK MANAGEMENT IN AGRIBUSINESS: THE PROPOSAL OF A THEORETICAL MODEL IN THE AGRICULTURAL SUPPLY CHAIN

The implementation of autonomous working groups has been a common focus of socio-technical systems approaches to work redesign. There is an interest in understanding the design, structure and performance of semi-autonomous teams in different markets and economic sectors. Thus, this work seeks to propose a theoretical model that correlates the main factors considered in semi-autonomous teams in the agricultural supply chain. In addition, we seek to know the indirect effect of these factors and their relevance. To this end, exploratory research in the field of sociotechnics is applied to identify the variables of the model and previous studies. Data collection is done by a survey in 4 countries of the agricultural market in Latin America and the model is validated from the modeling of structural equations with Smart PLS SEM. The results of the study indicate that the adoption of work autonomy does not have a direct effect caused by the management of human resources (HR) . Furthermore, the adoption of work autonomy is moderated by work remuneration. Finally, the indirect effect that HR management has on the adoption of semi-autonomous teams may be related to its own functioning in the organization. HR has an important influence on enterprise communication and conflict work.

Implementation and use of technology-enabled blood pressure monitoring and teleconsultation in Singapore’s primary care: a qualitative evaluation using the socio-technical systems approach

BackgroundTelemedicine is becoming integral in primary care hypertension management, and is associated with improved blood pressure control, self-management and cost-effectiveness. This study explored the experiences of patients and healthcare professionals and their perceived barriers and facilitators in implementing and using a technology-enabled blood pressure monitoring intervention with teleconsultation in the Singapore primary care setting.MethodsThis was a qualitative study embedded within the Primary Technology-Enhanced Care Hypertension pilot trial. Patients were selected purposively and invited to participate by telephone; healthcare professionals involved in the trial were invited to participate by email. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted in English or Mandarin with thirteen patients and eight healthcare professionals. Each interview was audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed inductively to identify emergent themes which were then grouped into the dimensions of the socio-technical systems model to study the interactions between the technical, individual and organizational factors involved in the process.ResultsSeveral emergent themes were identified. The factors involved in the implementation and use of the intervention are complex and interdependent. Patients and healthcare professionals liked the convenience resulting from the intervention and saw an improvement in the patient-provider relationship. Patients appreciated that the intervention helped form a habit of regular blood pressure monitoring, improved their self-management, and provided reassurance that they were being monitored by the care team. Healthcare professionals found that the intervention helped to manage workload by freeing up time for other urgent matters. Nevertheless, participants highlighted challenges with usability of the equipment and management portal, data access, and some expressed technology anxiety. Participants suggested patient segmentation for the intervention to be more targeted, wished for a more user-friendly equipment and proposed allocating more resources to the intervention.ConclusionsThe implementation and use of telemedicine for hypertension management can engender various benefits and challenges to patients, healthcare professionals and the healthcare system. Stakeholder feedback gathered on the sociotechnical aspects of the technology should be taken into consideration to guide the design, implementation and evaluation of future telemedicine interventions in primary care.Trial registrationThis study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov on October 9, 2018. ID: NCT03698890.

From a Techno-Economic towards a Socio-Technical Approach—A Review of the Influences and Policies on Home Energy Renovations’ Decisions

Over the past decades, the debate on how to encourage energy efficiency in existing homes has been guided by a technic-economic model that has a strong focus on technologies and cost savings, in which human behavior has been devalued to a narrow behavioral economics overview. While this specific area of behavioral science enabled to capture of the dimension of energy renovations as a problem of homeowners’ individual choice, the collective and social aspects of energy efficiency are still largely overlooked on the energy policy agenda. With its emphasis on how social structures interpenetrate individual actions, social sciences offer additional insights that go beyond the identification of barrier-drivers underlying investment choices and also help to identify positive opportunities for renovation within the conditions of domestic and social life. Until recently, comprehensive behavioral aspects and the social dimension of home energy renovation have been ignored in policy initiatives, and the integration of complementary disciplines is only in its early stages. Based on a broad literature review, this paper aims to provide an up-to-date interdisciplinary perspective of the theoretical evolutionary background, which has been the support to gradually redefine and address the problems associated with energy improvements in homes.

Impact of graphical versus textual sociotechnical prototypes on the generation of mental models in work design

In an experiment so-termed sociotechnical prototypes based on either a graphical or a textual representation of an envisioned work system were evaluated with regard to their ability to communicate a design vision to people involved in a participatory design process. Results of the study reveal, in line with hypotheses, that the graphical prototype, in contrast to the textual one, was significantly better accepted as well as faster explored and evaluated. Moreover, results support the hypothesis that the graphical sociotechnical prototype helps to build up a more accurate mental representation of the system with regard to its elements (e.g. job roles, tasks). However, no positive effect on the mental representation of the system in terms of the relations between its elements (e.g. which role performs which task?) was found. Finally, practical implications and perspectives for further development of the sociotechnical prototyping approach to envision future work systems are discussed.

Understanding the technical and social paradoxes of learning management systems usage in higher education: A sociotechnical perspective

AbstractThe recent COVID‐19 pandemic has created an unprecedentedly complex situation and wicked problem in the education domain. This has forced educators and learners to study from home using unfamiliar pedagogical typologies and technologies in order to adapt to the new work routine. This research contributes to theory and practice by adopting a sociotechnical approach (STS) to understand the technical and social implications of learning management systems (LMS) to inform pedagogical development. A qualitative approach is adopted, and semi‐structured interviews are conducted across two university cases with 40 academics and students to capture their perceptions of LMS usage. We found that technical paradoxes present a barrier to pedagogical development in the transition from blended learning environments to remote ones, where many wicked and unprecedented challenges emerge from learning remotely during a pandemic, while social paradoxes arise from cultural issues such as user resistance that impede the university's pedagogical goals and visions.

STRisk: A Socio-Technical Approach to Assess Hacking Breaches Risk

Data breaches have begun to take on new dimensions and their prediction is becoming of great importance to organizations. Prior work has addressed this issue mainly from a technical perspective and neglected other interfering aspects such as the social media dimension. To fill this gap, we propose STRisk which is a predictive system where we expand the scope of the prediction task by bringing into play the social media dimension. We study over 3800 US organizations including both victim and non-victim organizations. For each organization, we design a profile composed of a variety of externally measured technical indicators and social factors. In addition, to account for unreported incidents, we consider the non-victim sample to be noisy and propose a noise correction approach to correct mislabeled organizations. We then build several machine learning models to predict whether an organization is exposed to experience a hacking breach. By exploiting both technical and social features, we achieve a Area Under Curve (AUC) score exceeding 98%, which is 12% higher than the AUC achieved using only technical features. Furthermore, our feature importance analysis reveals that open ports and expired certificates are the best technical predictors, while spreadability and agreeability are the best social predictors.

Macro Ergonomic Analysis and Design for Optimizing the Work Environment : A Literature Review

The purpose of this literature is to understand the application of macroergonomics in various fields. Macroergonomics is the study of work systems which include organizational structures (complexity, formalization, centralization, policies, and processes) with a socio-technical approach used to improve work systems. The method used is a thematic analysis of articles on the application of macroergonomics in various industries. Based on the results of the article review, the process of implementing macroergonomics is analysis, design, implementation, control, and evaluation. All review articles carry out macro ergonomics analysis and design within the scope of the work system as a whole but do not intervene in all factors/problems. The reviewed articles show that the intervention is carried out only on a few factors, where human and organizational factors are always involved. The application of macroergonomics can achieve many goals at once that are beneficial to organizations, workers, and even consumers. The highest frequency of macro ergonomics objectives in consecutive review articles was: quality, occupational health, safety, work existence, productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness.

A Qualitative Assessment of the Deployment of Zero-Emission Heavy-Duty Trucks in Logistics—Deriving Recommendations for Action from a Socio-Technical Approach on the Regional Level

Although different European and national policies have set targets for a shift from fossil fuels to zero-emission heavy-duty trucks in the transport sector, their share is still rather low and mainly on a project level. The process of changing human perception in freight transport goes beyond the often discussed technical or economical aspects and demands research activities and perspectives from different stakeholders. Therefore, this paper delivers a stakeholder analysis together with a qualitative comprehensive analysis from different perspectives. It reveals the influence and importance as well as the general attitude of identified stakeholders concerning zero-emission heavy-duty trucks in logistics on a regional level in order to identify changes and barriers and to derive recommendations for action. The carried out socio-technical approach uses and adapts existing and approved scientific approaches with the general aim of creating a holistic assessment to accompany the development and implementation of zero-emission drive-systems in the transport sector.

Management of Public Procurement and Institutional Sustainability: Analysis of Interpersonal Power from a Socio-Technical Approach

Las contrataciones públicas (CP) representan más de la mitad del presupuesto de gobiernos, estudios previos demuestran que las CP se utilizan para resolver problemas socios ambientales y apoyar el desarrollo económico, sin embargo, se presenta ineficiencia y corrupción en su gestión. Este estudio propone un modelo conceptual para analizar la influencia del poder interpersonal en la gestión de las contrataciones públicas y la sostenibilidad institucional con un enfoque socio técnico. La propuesta también contempla la validación del modelo teórico a través de un estudio mixto y para el análisis de los datos se sugiere utilizar el modelo de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM). El propósito de esta investigación es aportar con fundamentos teóricos a la gestión y regulación de las CP, así como recomendar nuevas rutas para futuras investigaciones que permitan profundizar o ampliar el estudio.

Procurement of artificial intelligence for radiology practice

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology for radiology has accelerated in the past decade, but its deployment in radiology practices has been slow. We take a sociotechnical approach and suggest that the limited use of AI in radiology practices can be attributed to a recurring tension between planned and emergent change. The paper contributes with a conceptualization and understanding of the tension during the procurement of AI for radiology. To balance this tension, we suggest that health organizations need to redefine the concept and scope of traditional procurement projects, with well-defined goals and project time. Instead, we propose that health organizations need to conceptualize their procurement and implementation projects of AI technology as evolving change processes. The study is based on an interpretive research approach and informed by the Information Infrastructure framework. Empirically, we study the procurement of AI solutions for radiology at a large health trust in Norway.

Reviewing the sociotechnical dynamics of carbon removal

In recent years, carbon removal and associated net-zero energy technologies have emerged as serious options for policymakers and scientists to consider when trying to address climate change. How, where, and when to use these options effectively are, however, polemic, and research examining the social or justice dimensions of deployment—actual or prospective—remains uncommon. This review provides an interdisciplinary and holistic perspective of the sociotechnical dynamics of carbon-removal options. It employs a sociotechnical approach that reveals the different epistemic, economic, technical, social, political, and environmental elements necessary for a net-zero energy transition. In this review, we first summarize seven broad classes of carbon removal—afforestation and reforestation, soil carbon sequestration, marine biomass and blue carbon, direct air capture with carbon storage, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, enhanced weathering, and biochar. The review then explores four critical sociotechnical areas in greater depth: modeling and assessment, social acceptance, innovation and scaling, and policy and governance. We conclude with implications for policy and research. In recent years, carbon removal and associated net-zero energy technologies have emerged as serious options for policymakers and scientists to consider when trying to address climate change. How, where, and when to use these options effectively are, however, polemic, and research examining the social or justice dimensions of deployment—actual or prospective—remains uncommon. This review provides an interdisciplinary and holistic perspective of the sociotechnical dynamics of carbon-removal options. It employs a sociotechnical approach that reveals the different epistemic, economic, technical, social, political, and environmental elements necessary for a net-zero energy transition. In this review, we first summarize seven broad classes of carbon removal—afforestation and reforestation, soil carbon sequestration, marine biomass and blue carbon, direct air capture with carbon storage, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, enhanced weathering, and biochar. The review then explores four critical sociotechnical areas in greater depth: modeling and assessment, social acceptance, innovation and scaling, and policy and governance. We conclude with implications for policy and research.

DECENT: A sociotechnical approach for developing mobile health apps in underserved settings.

Despite the fact that user engagement is critical to the efficacy of mobile health (mHealth) interventions in the Global South, many of these interventions lack user engagement features. This is because sociotechnical aspects of such initiatives are frequently ignored during the design, development, and implementation stages. This research highlighted the importance of considering sociotechnical factors when developing mHealth apps. The intended users for the mHealth technologies in this study are care professionals. Five semi-structured interviews and a pilot interview were conducted to identify user engagement facilitators and barriers. The interview data were analysed using NVivo. The Capability, Opportunity, Motivation - Behaviour (COM-B) model is then used to map the facilitators and barriers to mHealth app engagement, allowing researchers to better understand how users engage/disengage with mHealth apps. Capability facilitators included features that assist users in learning more about the app (e.g. a user manual and statistical data) as well as features that assist users in developing a routine. The lack of app skills and cognitive overload limit capability. While social connectedness and offline functionality were identified as facilitators of user engagement, non-user-friendly design and cultural dimensions were identified as barriers. Early user engagement and rewards were identified as motivational facilitators that influence user engagement. Furthermore, perceived non-utility and a lack of encouragement were identified as motivational barriers to engagement. Several factors were discovered across all COM-B model components that could be used to develop more engaging mHealth apps. Adopting a techno-centric approach that ignores sociotechnical factors can reduce user engagement. The design process engagement enhancement system (DECENT) framework was proposed based on the findings.

When research is the context: Cross-platform user expectations for social media data reuse

Social media provides unique opportunities for researchers to learn about a variety of phenomena—it is often publicly available, highly accessible, and affords more naturalistic observation. However, as research using social media data has increased, so too has public scrutiny, highlighting the need to develop ethical approaches to social media data use. Prior work in this area has explored users’ perceptions of researchers’ use of social media data in the context of a single platform. In this paper, we expand on that work, exploring how platforms and their affordances impact how users feel about social media data reuse. We present results from three factorial vignette surveys, each focusing on a different platform—dating apps, Instagram, and Reddit—to assess users’ comfort with research data use scenarios across a variety of contexts. Although our results highlight different expectations between platforms depending on the research domain, purpose of research, and content collected, we find that the factor with the greatest impact across all platforms is consent—a finding which presents challenges for big data researchers. We conclude by offering a sociotechnical approach to ethical decision-making. This approach provides recommendations on how researchers can interpret and respond to platform norms and affordances to predict potential data use sensitivities. The approach also recommends that researchers respond to the predominant expectation of notification and consent for research participation by bolstering awareness of data collection on digital platforms.

Socio-technical challenges towards data-driven and integrated urban water management: A socio-technical network approach

Data-driven and integrated urban water management have been proposed to reduce surface water pollution in light of climate change and urbanization impacts. Besides technological innovation, data-driven and integrated management require information exchange among many actors, e.g., operators, engineers, or authorities. With the aim of achieving a more profound understanding of socio-technical infrastructures, such as urban water systems, I draw on the approach of socio-technical networks to study actors and infrastructure elements as well as multiple relations in-between. In this article, I investigate whether underlying socio-technical dependencies influence social interactions such as information exchange. More specifically related to data-driven and integrated management, I analyze potential challenges, such as organizational fragmentation, data access, and diverging perceptions. Based on empirical data from three case studies in Switzerland, I provide inferential results obtained from fitting exponential random graph models. Findings showed that actors’ relatedness to infrastructure elements affects their information exchange. Among the cases, the presence of the three challenges varied and is potentially contingent upon system size, organizational form, or progress in terms of data-driven and integrated management. Thus, incorporating a socio-technical perspective on social actors and infrastructure elements could help to improve policy design and implementation aiming to achieve more sustainable cities.

Analysis of barriers and benefits associated with e-health technology applications

People's interest in health issues has stimulated the development of healthcare-oriented technology products. For the process of developing and using e-health technologies, it is necessary to know the challenges and facilitators for their implementation and wide acceptance. this research aims to identify, among the e-health technologies that are already available in the literature, what are the barriers for implementation/adoption of these technologies, as well as the main benefits arising from their use. In order to identify research opportunities on the subject of e-health, the method of systematic literature review was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) methodological approach. 130 records are considered for the review. The results obtained about barriers and benefits were structured from the sociotechnical (social - people/society; technical - machines/technology) systems approach. As a result, we expect to identify perspectives for the direction of new products development and opportunities for future research.

Theory-driven development of an educative nutritional intervention (ENI) supporting older hospital patients to eat sufficiently, assisted by an eHealth solution: an intervention mapping approach

Background:Insufficient protein and energy intake is a prevalent and serious problem in older hospital patients. Here, we describe the development of a program consisting of 1) an educative nutritional intervention (ENI) to support older hospital patients to participate in their own nutritional care using the eHealth solution Food’n’Go, and 2) a plan for education and support of healthcare professionals, enabling them to conduct the ENI. Further, we describe the evaluation of the acceptability of the program as perceived by nursing staff and dieticians.Methods:The Intervention Mapping (IM) framework was used to design and develop the ENI through six steps: 1) a logic model of the problem was developed; 2) performance objectives and related change objectives were defined for patients, relatives, and healthcare professionals; 3) the intervention was designed using relevant theory-based change methods; 4) program materials were produced; and finally, 5) implementation and maintenance were planned and 6) evaluation of the program was planned. End users (patients, relatives, and healthcare professionals) were involved in the design and development of the ENI.Results:Based on the logic model, the personal determinants (knowledge, skills, self-efficacy, outcome expectation, social support, attitude, and awareness) related to the patients and their relatives were addressed in the ENI, and those related to the healthcare professionals were addressed in the plan for their education and support. Theories of behavioral change, technology acceptance, and nutritional management for older persons were applied. A plan for evaluation of the effectiveness (intake of energy and protein) and feasibility of the ENI was conducted. The feasibility measurements were the behaviors and determinants related to the intervention outcome that were identified in the logic model of change. The ENI was perceived as acceptable by the nursing staff and dieticians.Conclusion:We developed a theory- and evidence-based intervention guided by the IM framework and a sociotechnical approach, which was perceived as acceptable and ready for use to support older hospital patients to eat sufficiently assisted by eHealth.

Critical energy infrastructure and the evolution of cybersecurity

Cybersecurity has risen to a position of great significance in global affairs. This is intensifying in many sectors, including energy. Protection of the Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) from cyberattack is an increasing priority in developed and developing economies alike. Provided here is an analysis of the cyber threat to CEI, especially in times of crisis or conflict; the energy sector’s evolving response to that threat; and prescriptions for socio-technical approaches to it.