As technology evolves, countries face both new opportunities and new risks. Among the most complex and multi-faceted risks for societies today are those related to cyberattacks, which are extremely dynamic in nature and can be devastating to governments, health systems and individuals alike. By partnering with reinsurers, governments can leverage the new technologies at the industry’s disposal, including improved risk modeling and data collection methods.
A more complex risk environment is obliging governments to intensify, refashion, reverse, and develop new policy measures to support national security and resilience frameworks, according to Marsh & McLennan Advantage's new report, Building National Resilience. At the same time, the quest continues to nurture resilient societies from the bottom up, an exercise that is all the more pressing when the sense of communal cohesiveness is at a low in many countries.
Well-enforced land-use planning regulations and building code standards remain fundamental to mitigating natural disaster damage, but more radical measures (such as “managed retreat”) should be seriously considered when protection or rebuilding measures are no longer viable or affordable options. In other critical areas, such as countering rapidly declining biodiversity, soil quality erosion, ocean cleanliness and escalating migration crises, reversals of long-held approaches and new forms of international cooperation are necessary.
But it’s perhaps with reference to rapid technological advances that the greatest innovation is required. Many countries have introduced, or are working on, measures to curb systemic impacts from large cyberattacks; to prevent undesirable consequences of multiple new technology applications (such as artificial intelligence); to govern the growing concentration of power in the big technology players; and to thwart the ability of foreign states to exploit domestic research and development excellence for their own long-term geostrategic advantage.
Guy Carpenter actively works alongside Marsh & McLennan Advantage and other Marsh & McLennan businesses Marsh and Oliver Wyman to build a comprehensive, global understanding of public sector risks, and is well positioned to partner with stakeholders across the public and private sector to deliver solutions that protect against today's ubiquitous technology-related risks..
Read more on page 22 of Marsh & McLennan Advantage’s Building National Resilience Report >>