Ict systems in the post 9/11 context: a comparative US/Canada soft system analysis
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2011
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Abstract
This dissertation is a document based analysis of the major social and technology factors involved in developing Canada' s post 9/ 11 response and national integrated security system. The role of ICT (information and communication technology) systems is of special interest. There is a paucity of academic research of Canadian post 9/11 federal responses apart from a narrow focus on the major moves announced, even though the impact extends far beyond these. 9/11 occurred against a background of technological advances and ICT systems already presenting the Canadian federal government with policy, regulatory and legislative challenges profoundly important in shaping the Canadian federal response. These have not received sufficient academic study. A substantial part of Canada's federal post 9/11 national security agenda plays out through ICT systems and the underlying layer of information. This research analyzes actual or intended Canadian federal government action (according to official publicly available documents), and also goes deeper to analyze the role of ICT and information. Significantly, it positions both in Canadian historical and current contexts and includes the central but missing element: information. The research establishes the baseline of soft system components (legislation, institutional organization and strategy) Canada had to draw upon in its post 9/1 1 response. Federal processes for civil defence were established in World War II and the Cold War, and these were brought forward into the post 9/11 context. The research also establishes points in the US homeland security agenda relevant to Canada (according to each country's official publicly available documents). In the aftermath of 9/11 the US federal focus firmly fixed on information, and this has not waivered. ICT systems and ICT critical infrastructure are primary targets for information capture to serve the evolving and expanding homeland security agenda. Canada responded to the US responses to the terrorist attacks, and information is also the central feature of the Canadian response. A major conclusion reached is the post 9/11 Canadian federal integrated security system encompasses not only the announced system, but also a number of other systems. These include hidden and shadow systems, and unannounced and backdoor systems. All involve ICT and information.
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Bibliography: p. 352-379
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Vennard, L. F. (2011). Ict systems in the post 9/11 context: a comparative US/Canada soft system analysis (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/4163