Archives: 17 juin 2020

Anne Wanielista
30 juin 2020

Maritime Cyber Security : variable summary card

Maritime Cyber security

This summary card presents the Maritime Cyber Security variable: how is it defined, what are the relevant indicators to assess it, what are the remarkable historical facts, who are the interested parties, where are the links for a foresight study.  Hypotheses still need to be developed to be complete…

This series of publications are extracted from my final paper written within the frame of university certificate on foresight (UCL – Sept 2018)

Maritime Cyber security : variable definition

Originally, maritime security includes surveillance, protection and security activities aimed at combating piracy on board ships. 

Over time, threats have become more diverse and digitalized.  While digitization has increased the profitability of the maritime sector, it also implies particular security.

ENISA therefore recommends that maritime procedures be amended to include cyber-risks.

At the country level, everyone is concerned because a problem in the smallest country can cause problems for the biggest.

At the activity level, the following are concerned:

  • Ship management
  • Cargo management
  • Intra-port management

Relevant Indicators

  • Protection of digital equipment (e.g. SCADA – Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition)
  • Level of security awareness among the crew (training + test for example)
  • Evolution of threats: types, levels, impact and likelihood (via regular audits)
  • Evolution of weak points (access)
  • Number of security incidents + breakdown into categories (# cyber-attacks, …)
  • Number of shipwrecks due to cyber sabotage
  • …

Experts estimate the reported cyber incidents at 10% of the real number; on the one hand to avoid increasing insurance premiums, on the other hand to protect one’s reputation.

Retrospective

Today, many installations are vulnerable because at the time of their implementation, the cyber risks were unknown.

In 2004, ENISA, the European Network and Information Security Agency, was created by a European Union regulation and is based in Heraklion.

In 2008, a first white paper on defence and security is published in France.

In 2011, ENISA publishes a report concluding that « cyber-security awareness » is very low in the maritime sector.

At the same time, the port of Antwerp suffered a cyber-attack orchestrated by a drug cartel in order to hide their products in containers and retrieve them « safe and sound » and that the « Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines » had its cargo data erased by an unknown actor.  These are just two of many examples.

It will not be until 2014 that maritime transport will sound the alarm.

In order to design a robust system from the outset, harmonization and standardization would be desirable, especially as information and communication technologies in the maritime environment are very complex.

This harmonization should involve the 3 levels of governance: international, European and national.

It is necessary to go beyond the purely physical aspects of security.

A risk-based approach is desired.

Involved stakeholders

  • International Maritime Organization
  • EU Commission
  • Member States
  • Police
  • Shipowners
  • Carriers
  • Customs
  • Logisticians
  • …

Foresight

Vessels

Ships have many digital technologies.
It is mandatory for them to be equipped with electronic navigation systems (SOLAS convention). Authentication is crucial for communicating information necessary for safety at sea, but it is non-existent. An integrated bridge (sea-shore) brings together the different navigation systems. The infrastructures on land are therefore also concerned…
Threats can be of various kinds; they can be intrusion for commercial espionage => access to the cargo manifest. Hackers/pirates then make an informed choice of targets for physical attacks.
It can also be sabotage with taking control of the digital gateway.

Ports

Ports are a prime target along with airports and nuclear power plants. They fulfil 4 functions:

  1. Nautical activity
  2. Goods logistics
  3. Industrial activity
  4. Human dimension

The exchange of information takes place at these 4 levels and the speed of vessel and freight management is a factor of competitiveness. Consequently, exchanges between the various stakeholders must be fluid. The trend is towards a « smart port » concept.
New vulnerabilities are emerging with new « disruptive » factors:

  • Infrastructure security
  • Port Security
  • Operation of the port affecting its reputation


The port becomes the weakest link in the supply chain …

Satellite risks

The accident (shipwreck) rate has been divided by 8 in 100 years. Applications are constantly developing but they are certainly targets for cyber criminals, whether civilian or military.

Sources, Useful links & Resources

Enisa.europa.eu

Vitel P. (20/03/2018). Conférence Cybersécurité et milieu maritime : état des lieux et prospectives. Paris. Ecole de Guerre économique.

Pauquet W. et al. (09/03/2017). Note Stratégique : cybersécurité dans le milieu maritime : défis et pistes de solutions. www.observatoire-fic.com

Loi du 02/10/2017 sur la sécurité privée et particulière

AR 11/06/2013 : carte, journal de bord, rapport de mission

AR 02/09/2013 : autorisation entreprise

AR 01/12/2013 : formation

AR 04/09/2013 : lutte piraterie

No Comments InCyber security Sector of Activity
Anne Wanielista
24 juin 2020

Private Security Sector: investigation

Belgian private security sector #3: Investigation

This third chapter focusses on the questions and the chosen methods to answer them. 

What are the questions & issues to be answered in this study, what criteria do we use to choose a method of working, what approach do we opt for, what participants do we select and finally, what means do we have at disposal ?

This series of publications are extracted from my final paper written within the frame of university certificate on foresight (UCL – Sept 2018)

Investigation-on-Private-Security-Sector-300x300 Private Security Sector: investigation

Questions & Issues

  • How will the private security sector evolve?
  • How will it guarantee the security of its users, private companies?
  • How to avoid overlapping tasks between private and public security?
  • How to avoid that certain tasks are not fulfilled by either private or public security (gap = non-coverage of tasks)?
  • Can we imagine a return to private militias?
  • Is the Uberization phenomenon a threat to traditional private security companies?
  • Digitization is raging.  Will humans manage to live in symbiosis with the machine or will they be ousted?
  • How can the sector (companies offering private security services) be made sustainable, where do the threats come from, what are the risks and opportunities offered by the new drivers of change?

Work method

criteria-for-work-method-sketchnote-1024x768 Private Security Sector: investigation

We will orient our thinking to be both credible and useful, and will therefore focus on :

  • Relevance of the studied subjects and the actors involved…
  • Plausibility of the explored evolutions
  • Consistency of scenarios
  • Transparency of the methodology
  • Importance for the sponsor

Approach

Among the various possible approaches, i.e. exploratory, strategic, visionary, procedural or normative, we opted for the exploratory approach.  Indeed, we wish to consider a variety of possible futures, without restrictions.

"At the crossroads"

We chose to take the best of each world – in our opinion – for our study.  We have therefore borrowed various elements from each of the approaches:

  • Futurology: expert consultation and trend analysis…
  • French-style prospective: analysis of factors and actors as well as exploratory scenarios
  • Strategic Foresight: the overriding changes and uncertainties component and scenarios along two axes

Domain

This is a sectoral domain by differentiation with a territorial domain – for example the future of a region – or an organization – for example the future of company X.

Domain-of-foresight-study-300x225 Private Security Sector: investigation

Participants

The participants of choice are industry experts, including public security experts, as the two are inseparable.

We extend the expert field to certain European bodies.  Indeed, although the focus of the study is on the Belgian market, it is part of a larger ecosystem and, by definition, internal security also faces threats from outside.  Therefore, following the example of what Defence is already doing, we should focus on a « European » Security.

As the sponsor is the security managers of large companies, they represent the users of security products and services and are therefore important stakeholders.

As for citizens, we have deliberately decided not to consult them during this exercise but to « take the temperature » via the results of studies carried out by other bodies such as Bruxelles Prévention et Sécurité.  Those results regarding the feeling of insecurity have been published in 2019.

The survey is fragmented here, since it only covers Brussels Region.  For the sake of completeness, the results of studies from the other regions should therefore be brought together and analyzed.

Deadlines

deadline-sketchnote-150x150 Private Security Sector: investigation

Two questions remain to be answered:

  1. If extended beyond the study, what would be the timeframe to complete the analysis at the sector level?
  2. If we work at the company level, in what timing should we operate to develop a vision?

Means

A good network of actors will help to collect HUMINT.  In this case, we can rely on long term contacts established, thanks to the dynamism of ECSA as well as that of the Royal Military School (Alumni HESD – ATHENA) and the Intel conferences.

We therefore rely on these interpersonal relationships to obtain interviews.

As far as the political actors are concerned, at the period of the study we were on a pre-election period which was favorable – not sure what we can say about the current one… 😉

Indeed, when the parties are in the middle of a campaign, they are more inclined to explain their program … provided they have it « already » ready and that security has been covered as a topic…

Sources, Useful links & Resources

ECSA – European Corporate Security Association www.ecsa-eu.org

BPS (Bruxelles Prévention & Sécurité), Résultats de l’enquête régionale de sécurité 2018 – « Sentiment d’insécurité et victimation vécus par les résidents, navetteurs et touristes en Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Bruxelles, 2019 »

No Comments InForesight Private security Sector of Activity
Anne Wanielista
17 juin 2020

Private Security Sector: scope

Belgian private security sector #2 - Scope

This second chapter focusses on the scope of the study in order to properly define it. 

Who is the sponsor of the study, what topic do we address, which geography do we cover.  And finally, what temporality do we deal with?

This series of publications are extracted from my final paper written within the frame of university certificate on foresight (UCL – Sept 2018)

Scope-of-Private-Security-Sector-300x300 Private Security Sector: scope

Sponsor

As for any project, your foresight study requires a sponsor.

In this private security sector study, the choice of sponsors was plethoric, indeed, the theme – however not leading to extensive press coverage – unleashes passions.

  • political party
  • Police
  • Army
  • League for Human Rights
  • Trade association representing the sector
  • Private company active in the sector in question
  •  …

We certainly miss a couple of them.

We have fictionally opted for an association representing the interests of users in the private security sector and regrouping companies offering private security services.  The analysis does not aim (in our approach) to define a company’s vision and strategy but to serve the greatest number of people for an issue that is common to them: how the private security sector will evolve and how it will guarantee the security of its users.

ECSA, the European Corporate Security Association

ECSA, the European Corporate Security Association, was created in 2005 on the initiative of various stakeholders:

– security directors/managers of large companies

– European and international institutions

– experts from the Justice and Home Affairs public services (Eurojust, Europol, …)

Its mission is to work towards corporate security.  It should be understood to mean:

« To protect the interests of the Organization against risks of malicious origin through technical, organizational and research measures[1].

The objectives of ECSA are as follows:

– Provide its members with a secure forum for:

o The sharing of common issues and experiences

o Information and education

o Networking among members and with third parties

– Liaise and promote synergy between relevant organizations and associations in the academic, research, scientific, public and private sectors.

– Stimulating Public-Private Cooperation

– Establish and maintain a communication channel for information exchange and emergency alerts.

It will then be up to member companies using security services (demand side) and companies offering such services (supply side) – if they so wish – to carry out a process of their own in order to define the specific future desirable for each of them and in line with their values and culture.

[1] De Mesmaeker Y. (2017). ANPA Public-privé. ECSA

Topic

We are going to look at the private security industry.  Security is a promising subject if ever there was one, because it affects the individual and one of his basic needs as defined by Maslow.

Within companies, we find the same need for protection for their assets, consisting of :

– their staff

– their physical and IT infrastructure

– their customers

We exclude road safety as well as environmental safety from our scope.

Maslow-Pyramid Private Security Sector: scope
Maslow Pyramid

Geography

globus-earth-288x300 Private Security Sector: scope

We confined ourselves to Belgium.  The legislation is indeed national and not European.

As far as standardization is concerned, there are some:

– at the international level (ISO = International Standards Organization* ).   For more information, we refer to the website dedicated to ISO/TC 292 « security and resilience ».

– at European level (CEN = European Committee for Standardization).  The CEN TC 439 technical committee deals with the security matters we are concerned with.

« The main objectives of CEN/TC 439 are as follows:

  • Standardize in the field of civil private security services where necessary;
  • Bring all standardization activities related to private security under one roof;
  • Increase the quality of the security services in question;
  • Review, maintain and improve the standards developed by existing technical bodies:
  1. EN 15602 « Security Services Providers – Terminology ».  (CEN/BT/TF 167 « Security Services »)
  1. EN 16082 « Airport and Aviation Security Services ».  (CEN/TC 384 « Project Committee – Airport and aviation security services »)
  1. EN 16747 « Maritime and Port Security Services ».  (CEN/TC 417 « Project Committee – Maritime and port security services »)
  • Map the needs and priorities for standardization in the field of Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP). »**

On the latter point, there is an initiative to create a European standard to « define security guidelines » for critical infrastructure.  This was established in 2017, with an initial meeting in November at NBN’s initiative.  This meeting aimed at exchanging views and experience and brought together various private and public stakeholders concerned with critical infrastructure protection.

Title of the standard:
« Private Security Provision for the Protection of Critical Infrastructure. » (EN 17483-1)

Scope of the standard:
« This European Standard specifies service requirements for quality in organization, processes, personnel and management of a security service provider and/or its independent branches and establishments under commercial law and trade as a provider with regard to security services. It lays down quality criteria for the delivery of security services requested by public and private clients or buyers. This European Standard is suitable for the selection, attribution, awarding and reviewing of the most suitable provider of security services ».

rules-norms-standards-1024x789 Private Security Sector: scope

Belgium was not represented at the presentation of the first draft/draft in Vienna in February 2018.  This illustrates the efforts that still need to be made to improve security awareness and the importance of heritage protection among the various stakeholders, even though they are directly concerned.

The professional actors of private security are able, like any other European citizen, to take part in the public inquiry currently conducted: from April 30, 2020 till June 29, 2020.  Public inquiry was originally foreseen for beginning of 2019 and publication for March 2021, if it is published at all.  It seems to be postponed by 1 year.

Temporality

François Bourse defines 3 prospective time horizons:

The short term characterized by :

  • Current dynamics and inflections
  • Possible ruptures
trends-300x219 Private Security Sector: scope

The medium term characterized by :

  • Trends
  • Uncertainties
  • Structural transformations of the intervention context

Exactly the context in which the private security sector finds itself, with, in particular, a trend towards digitalization which is accelerating change.

e.g. Gartner estimates that the use of Machine Learning in enterprise security will be the norm by 2025.

A (relative) acceleration in the revision of legislation.  Indeed, 56 years elapsed between the law on private militias (1934) and the law on private and particular security of 1990; 27 years elapsed before seeing a major revision of this same law (2017); if we keep the same trend, a next revision could come into being in 2030.

The long term characterized by :

  • Great deep dynamics
  • New orders of magnitude
  • Paradigm shift

We have therefore chosen 2030 as our time horizon.

Sources, Useful links & Resources

ECSA – European Corporate Security Association www.ecsa-eu.org

*ISO/TC 292: Standardization in the field of security to enhance the safety and resilience of society

**CEN (2015). Business Plan CEN/TC439 Private Security Services.

https://www.nbn.be/fr/actualites/premi%C3%A8re-%C3%A9tape-vers-une-norme-europ%C3%A9enne-pour-les-infrastructures-critiques

NBN meeting 16/11/2017 – Van Der Valk Hotel

NBN Enquiry Portal : https://pe.nbn.be/wi/pecen

Gartner (3 July 2018). Gartner identifies the Top Six Security and risk management trends.  

François Bourse literature

No Comments InForesight Private security Sector of Activity
Anne Wanielista
4 juin 2020

Private Security Sector: context

Belgian private security sector #1 - Context

This first chapter focusses on the context of private security in order to set the scene.  What are the differences in Belgium and abroad, how does public private partnership occur, with police and army and with the citizens, how to properly exchange information. And finally, do culture and politics influence the context?

This series of publications are extracted from my final paper written within the frame of university certificate on foresight (UCL – Sept 2018)

context-of-Private-Security-Sector-300x300 Private Security Sector: context

Private security in Belgium and abroad (September 2018)

Some countries prohibit private security from carrying out tasks incumbent on the public authority, others may perform specific tasks, under certain conditions.  Some countries are holding on to their position of refusal (Finland and Norway), on the other hand, for others, a tendency to transfer police tasks to private security is notorious, this is the case in Croatia, Greece and Switzerland.

We conclude that a common « European » approach is not really conceivable at this stage.

Defense, police and private security collaboration

As far as Belgium is concerned, there are numerous collaborations with the police forces, clients of private security for equipment (cameras, mobile office,…) and within the framework of coverage of cultural and sporting events, … (use of drones, viewing of surveillance images, …).

It should be noted that the army’s first subcontracting contract for barracks guarding has been awarded to a private security company (Securitas) since November 2017.  Pilot project (Heverlee) which, if convincing, is intended to be extended to other barracks in the country. 

Opinions are divided on the suitability of subcontracting for this type of mission.  The justification comes from the fact that the army needs to refocus on its « core business », especially as its numbers are constantly decreasing and will reach 25 000 units by 2030 as against 30 000 in 2017, according to the strategic vision of Steven Vandeput, then Defence Minister.  Security is therefore not the only issue concerned by subcontracting (food, etc.).  Although this is a major first for Belgium, « in France, the guarding of certain military sites has already been privatized, such as the Toulon naval base or the National Commando Training Centre ».

Since September 2018, we are witnessing further changes as private security (Securitas) secures a police station (Antwerp) for the first time.  At the Tihange nuclear power station, the DAB police officers have replaced the military, which has been responsible for its security since 2015.

The DAB is a new unit of the federal police, a security directorate.  It will be staffed by some 1,600 people, including police officers and former military personnel.  Their missions will namely include securing infrastructures, including critical infrastructures, and transferring prisoners.

Exchange of information between public and private sectors

In addition to the « provision of services » and « subcontracting » components, the « exchange of information » component should be strengthened and benefit from a legal framework.  According to Yvan De Mesmaeker, Secretary General of ECSA, the exchange of information between the public and private sectors should be possible if the following three conditions are met:

  1. Reliability: the persons concerned should have a security clearance (and hold a position as a police officer, magistrate, customs officer, etc.).
  2. Confidentiality: the persons concerned should be bound by professional secrecy, which should be regulated by law.
  3. Need to know: data subjects should be required to have the information in order to carry out their task properly.

Collaboration with the citizens

In addition to partnerships with professionals, the police organize Local Prevention Partnerships (LPP) with the inhabitants. The initiative comes from the FPS Interior.

« They concern an exchange of information between the inhabitants and the Police, by neighborhood, within a pre-established framework in the form of a charter, in order to improve the prevention of burglaries in particular.  This information relates to suspicious behavior or any attempted burglary. »  Indeed, every year, 75,000 robberies or attempted robberies are committed.

« Citizens are asked to inform the police of what they observe as suspicious behavior in their neighborhood, but certainly not to carry out patrols. »

Within the police forces themselves, the subject is a matter of debate; while some people welcome the organization of these PLPs, others have mixed opinions on the formula, ranging from reproaches about « extra paperwork, possible discrimination between inhabitants and especially an organization that has not yet been seriously evaluated » to fierce opposition to « letting citizens share the work of the police ».

Cultural and political influence

It should also be noted that there would be cultural and political differences between the regions: on the one hand, « a Flanders more sensitive to security of the Anglo-Saxon type and a Wallonia, let’s say… more unconcerned and above all reluctant to the idea of surveillance by neighbors. There are also more political positions with a Flanders where the NVA (and especially its Minister of the Interior) dreams of police missions that would be delegated to the private sector. And, a contrario, a Wallonia where security is a mission that is considered to be the exclusive responsibility of the State and therefore of the police ».

We are therefore witnessing a reorganization of security among its various actors and a redistribution of the cards.  One of the challenges will be not to leave any aspects uncovered.

Useful links & resources

DAB Direction de la sécurisation website https://www.police.be/5998/fr/a-propos/police-administrative/direction-de-la-securisation

ECSA – European Corporate Security Association www.ecsa-eu.org

No Comments InForesight Private security Sector of Activity
Anne Wanielista
27 mai 2020

Quality management and marketing management share common perspectives … and benefits

Better know your customer needs & expectations and consciously decide (not) to address them; maximize your products/services perceived value and your customer satisfaction; Persuade your customer segments to pay a value-based price … these are the benefits of having quality and marketing working hand in hand …

Customer satisfaction

“Production: Quality can be defined as conformance to specifications. The degree to which a product meets the design specifications offering a satisfaction factor that fulfils all the expectations that a customer wants.”

Perceived value

“Value: Quality means providing value to the customer; that is, offering conditions of product use or service that meet or exceed customer’s expectations”… and satisfaction!

Quality allows to “over-deliver”, which exactly is what is sought after by marketing as an incentive to buy and to recommend.

It will also allow to evolve towards a value-based pricing

Customer needs

Identifying the differentiators for the customers’ segments implies knowing what keeps them awake at night.  Those customer needs and expectations must be known and the actions that can be taken must be listed. Decision as to address those needs or not lies with management.  At least, it will be a conscious decision.

Context of the organization

This chapter is present in the High Level Structure underlying the newly published ISO standards. It underlines the importance of the ecosystem and covers:

  • on the one hand the context in which the organization is evolving. This refers to its ecosystem and ideally calls upon a permanent market watch.  This can be performed via strategic intelligence methods, to detect trends.
  • On the other hand the stakeholders management – or the so-called interested parties: customers of course but also competitors, regulators, neighbors, … to name but a few. This helps building classical -but still useful – marketing tools such as SWOT, PORTER analysis,  …

It therefore make sense for both quality and marketing departments of an organization to join forces to develop and analyze customers’ satisfaction surveys and Voice of Customers’ programs.

Source for the quality definition: Geneva Business News

No Comments InQuality & Compliance
Anne Wanielista
24 mai 2020

Economic Intelligence : how is it useful for Managers?

Economic Intelligence, a tool for risk management and reputation management!

Find out a couple of examples where Economic Intelligence can serve as a Risk management tool.  Apply some tips & tricks for Reputation Management.
Thanks to Jean-Paul Bissen, associate partner at Fitch Bennett, for the interview – published on Fitch Bennett Partners blog in January 2020.

Logo-Fitch-Bennett Economic Intelligence : how is it useful for Managers?

What is economic intelligence, and how is it useful for managers?

Economic intelligence is a decision support tool based on three pillars: monitoring, protection and influence.

The monitoring is used to guide actions to ensure continuity (Business Continuity). It covers competitors, the market, customers and has a PESTEL dimension (Political, Economic, Societal, Technological and Legal). This is to analyze data external to the company, in addition to the business intelligence that exploits companies’ internal data.

The protection of the economic and scientific heritage of the company is ensured.

Influence can be exerted on various stakeholders, such as consumers, potential buyers, legislators, …

pestel-Chart Economic Intelligence : how is it useful for Managers?

What risks can be reduced with economic intelligence?

Tigerkidnapping eg any staff member in contact with valuables (banks, jewelry) can be encouraged to give details (place of work, schedule, interest, family etc) and forced to commit malicious acts. Tigerkidnapping refers to the kidnapping or taking hostage of a person close to the collaborator to force him to commit a negative action.

The reputational risk: a private security company lost 50% of its value on the stock market when the press disclosed that it had employed someone who perpetrated a mass shooting in Orlando, the FBI reproaching the employer for having only conducted a psychological evaluation when he joined without updating it
… To name just two, there are of course many more!

The employee could be an ambassador or a detractor, a role that can evolve according to his career and after. An evolution that can be conscious or unconscious (fraud, passion, malicious intent, stupidity, pride, revenge …).

What about the GPDR?

Good question! In itself, the GDPR restricts the « surveillance » of staff members, which does not prevent the company from monitoring its brand, especially on open sources such as social networks.

What to do?

Reputational watch is a good start. Cooperative involvement of everyone in the company par excellence because it concerns various departments of the company:

  • HR for the employer brand (employer branding) and best profile with potential talent,
  • Sales & Marketing to learn more about the perception of customers / prospects products / solutions,
  • QHSSE (Quality, Health, Safety, Security, Environment) to respond to / anticipate possible complaints or incidents and
  • Operations to find out what’s happening in the field.

This common interest makes it possible to break the walls between departments and bring the teams together.

Where to start?

  1. Appoint a dedicated monitor and establish a structured reputation monitoring.
  2. Communicate internally to make employees aware of the use of social networks and establish a « social media » charter, while combining freedom of expression and protection of the family, the company and its customers.
  3. Appoint a Community Manager who will be trained to react quickly to any recrimination.
  4. Set up a crisis unit for the most delicate cases.
No Comments InStrategy & Intelligence
Anne Wanielista
23 mai 2020

Design Fiction: when Innovation meets Foresight

Design Fiction: when Innovation meets Foresight

Inspiring CrossInnovation evening during which 3 innovative and collaborative projects were presented.  All of them were designed to meet a more or less obvious need in various sectors of activity:

Cross-Innovation-Banner-10102019-Mons-300x165 Design Fiction: when Innovation meets Foresight
Airfix-project-CrossInnovation-2019-300x225 Design Fiction: when Innovation meets Foresight

Airfix has proposed a smart textile that is both lightweight and resistant, able to absorb urban pollution and, cherry on the cake, energy self-sufficient. A call for applications has been launched to municipalities ready to embark on the adventure of the prototype testing.

JeWell then presented us a range of jewels, all more appealing than each other and for all tastes. These are equipped with sensors to detect more than 500 different diseases. One way to take care of yourself and others.

JeWell-project-CrossInnovation-2019-300x225 Design Fiction: when Innovation meets Foresight
OnlyMeatproject-CrossInnovation-2019-300x225 Design Fiction: when Innovation meets Foresight

OnlyMeat has developed a packaging which disappears during cooking and thus helps limiting plastic packaging around food.

We had the opportunity to vote and show our support – or not – for these projects and to « rate » them in terms of vision, disruption, …

Olivier Wathelet then led us to question the reality of these projects…He guided us in the footsteps of Design Fiction, or a laboratory of imaginary, to explore the consequences of products / solutions of the future.

The Design Fiction is basically a practical version focused on products and solutions of the future, which can be put (in any case that I put) in parallel with the Foresight, a strategic version centered around the vision and the mission of an organization …

We also had the opportunity to discover 17 very real projects, supported by Interreg, France, Wallonia, Vlaanderen during this evening.  Thanks to all stakeholders!

No Comments InForesight Innovation
Anne Wanielista
23 mai 2020

The 3 pillars of Strategic/Economic Intelligence

The three pillars of Strategic Intelligence or Economic Intelligence: a must for any company!

Discover those pillars of strategic intelligence and the reasons why every company willing to stay in the race should make use of them.
The article dates back to a couple of years ago but remains more than ever on the agenda.
Thanks to Alison Tizard, associate partner at Ahead, for the interview – published in Headway in October 2013.

logo-Ahead The 3 pillars of Strategic/Economic Intelligence

Competition is raging and comes from everywhere

Data and its analysis and exploitation is not only the preoccupation of countries and large companies. Strategic Intelligence will help organisations of any size to acquire and analyse pertinent and reliable information to take better decisions in uncertain times. It is a continuous process.

Someone at the heart of Strategic Intelligence is Anne Wanielista, who started her mostly B2B career with Marben (now part of Atos Origin) before joining Neoceram and then Zetes, specialising in integrating identification solutions in the supply chain.

As Corporate Market Intelligence and Business Intelligence Director with Zetes, her target markets have been broad and many – from retail to logistics and from food to pharma. HEADWAY asked Anne how important it is to get under the skin of the diverse industries you serve …

Customer centricity ... and empathy

A commercial business without customers is not going to have a bright future.
The customer must remain centric and his needs, whether voiced or not, must be met. The art is to be reliable and attractive for your customer. If you help him add value to his own business, he will probably remain loyal … but to do that, you have to know what keeps him awake at night.
Empathy is key. Anticipation as well, since you will have to prepare the solutions for the future at different terms : short … and long! This is where strategy comes in.

How do you manage to do that given the pace of change in many sectors?

One of the very first pillars of Strategic and Economic Intelligence consists in scanning/monitoring the ecosystem.

The ecosystem at a large extent : market, customers, competitors, suppliers, partners, … are monitored as well as the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, ecological and legal environment : the so-called “PESTEL”.

The sources are numerous, be they open (OSINT[1]) or human (HUMINT[2]). Information will be connected from publications, websites, social media (SOCMINT[3]), at trade-shows, during conferences, …

Search orientation, Sources Identification, Automation (different « intelligent agents » tools exist on the market), and Collaboration are keys not to be overflooded.

[1] Open Source Intelligence

[2] Human Intelligence

[3] Social Media Intelligence

Intelligence-pillars-Chart The 3 pillars of Strategic/Economic Intelligence

Some people might find number crunching rather dull. What in this field has made you leap out of bed in the morning over the years?

Passion, curiosity and a great interest in trends shaping the future !

In recent years the volume of available information has dramatically increased, the rank and file is a reader and a contributor; the intelligence is shared as well as the information, would it be true or false; so the world and the enterprise are social and digital and must be agile …

That’s why I leap out of bed in the morning !

So what’s a typical day for you?

Besides the scanning step, essentially dedicating time to other pillars:

Protecting

A protection strategy is worked out at different levels:

  • internal data security to avoid breach in the system or leak via the staff; the new ways of working are challenging in this regard: BYOD[1], confusion between professional and private life on social network, … to name but a few
  • Intellectual property (brands, patents and domain names)
  • Anti-counterfeiting measures. The NTIC[2] offer the economical espionage a wider range of actors, challenges and methods
  • Activity: building scenarios for the future, to be prepared to change

Keeping an eye on e-reputation is essential too nowadays.

Influencing

Influence will happen through different means: webmarketing, lobbying, networking, …

This approach is different from the business intelligence where the internal data is analyzed. Here we are taking a look at what is going on outside the company. Here internal collaboration is again key as every person in the company holds information which will confirm, or maybe infirm or complement rumours coming from the market for example.

This “outside” strategic intelligence approach combined with the “inside” business intelligence approach will give the full picture.

Sharing: the logical next step

I would add to these 3 pillars a fourth one : the put in place of a knowledge sharing platform has numerous advantages (Central repository, Company memory, Collaboration place, Accessibility, …).

[1] Bring Your Own Device

[2] New Technologies of Information and Communication

When it comes to implementing Strategic Intelligence what’s your top tip for HEADWAY readers?

Strategic Intelligence is considered differently according to the part of the world or to the country : from a must to a luxury that cannot be afforded.
Top management must be convinced about this approach and must back the function wholeheartedly.

You are currently studying a master class in Strategic Intelligence at HEC-ULg. How is this stretching you further?

This class allows us to widen our scope, take a step back, take a critical look at our way of working. It is a great experience on several levels :

  • from a content perspective : it’s an occasion to learn new theories and to review or revise some other ones
  • from a technique perspective : speakers explained techniques to build strategies and showed us tools
  • from a human perspective : it’s an exchange of views and experiences with people expert in their field and working together gives lessons of humility and sharing
  • from a network perspective : it is an opportunity to meet with people having a common interest I would not have come across in other circumstances

I would like to pinpoint two high points :

Firstly, the organisation of the Strategic and Economic Symposium 2013 with prestigious speakers : Alain Juillet[1], Alain Winants[2], Guy Rapaille[3] and Patrick Leroy[4]. The theme was the relationship between the «State intelligence services» and the enterprises.

Secondly taking part in a war room as the closing exercise of the programme and our final exam.

[1] « Président du club des directeurs de sécurité des entreprises » (France) and « Président de l’académie d’intelligence économique » (France)

[2] « Administrateur général de la Sûreté de l’Etat » (Belgium)

[3] « Président du Comité Permanent de contrôle des Services de renseignement » (Belgium), « Président du BISC » (Belgium)

[4] « Chef de l’analyse de la Division contre-ingérence du SGRS » (Belgium)

Interesting. How did the format work?

Well, there were 14 of us in 3 rival teams. We were given a specific theme, 32 hours, and one mission: to study the positions of the different stakeholders, their arguments, their presence in the media and come up with an action plan.

Essentially you have to live a real-time “issue”, firstly by detecting the signals to prevent it becoming a crisis. Then you develop scenarios for the specific sector. This involves collaborating with people often from very different backgrounds and points of view. All of this really tests you intellectually, emotionally and physically.

Talking of war rooms, I hear you have a relevant and fun hobby!

Yes, as a teacher of self-defense system (krav maga), I have developed a training programme underlining the parallel between strategic intelligence and defence sport. In case of a person’s aggression or of a competitor’s attack, a series of common factors will make the difference : that could be awareness, or anticipation, stress management, determination, speed of decision making, velocity of execution … that’s to name but a few.

And that leads me naturally to the wise words of George S. Patton:

« The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war … »

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