"France needs to become the worldwide security champion" by Marc Darmon
In a piece published in Les Echos on 24 August, Marc Darmon, Executive Vice President, Secure Communications and Information Systems at Thales and president of the French trust and security industry group CICS, explained why he believes France needs to invest in technological innovation in the security sector
To combat terrorism and cybercrime, countries need to deploy increasingly powerful tools and technologies. The French security industry can provide them, but greater investment by the public sector is essential.
The risks and threats we face today — in particular related to terrorism and cyberattacks — are steadily rising and call for public policies that are both ambitious and insightful. The fact that measures introduced under the state of emergency have now been enshrined in law is a concrete example of such a public policy. What is needed now are comprehensive responses that mobilise all our capabilities and aim for greater efficiency.
The security services are stepping up to the challenge with competence, courage and determination. But they face a growing burden as the volume of digital data expands and new vulnerabilities appear. They are reaching the limits of human capability. To help them do their jobs and do them well, technology has the potential to boost their efficiency and better protect us all.
The French security industry is up to the task. It is an outstanding industry that generates 21 billion euros in revenues, 50% in export markets, and accounts for 125,000 highly qualified jobs. It includes a broad array of dynamic, innovative SMEs as well as major corporations with world market leadership positions. The various technological and human aspects of French security know-how are widely recognised, and can be leveraged even more effectively to shape public policies that are both innovative and efficient.
This is why the industry players in the CICS (Conseil des Industries de la Confiance et de la Sécurité) are calling for stronger public action to provide the industrial and operational capacities needed to make France a global laboratory for the development of the world's best security technologies.
The French State needs to invest a billion euros over three years
Firm action is needed on several fronts: support for innovation, capital investment, protection of the industrial fabric and sovereignty, export support, State-level security governance and European cooperation. In terms of support for innovation, the CICS believes the State should aim to invest a billion euros into technological innovation over three years in order to withstand fierce global competition and put France on the front line of disruptive changes in both technologies and markets. It is a question of keeping up with the countries that are investing massively in security technology to avoid being outclassed and dependent on others.
In terms of technological investments, industry urges the State to spend a billion euros a year to acquire systems and high-added-value technology services to fulfil its security missions. Our major industries are world leaders, but France has not modernised its capabilities in those industries' fields of excellence.
Industry is advocating for greater public and private investment in the essential technological solutions that have been widely adopted in other countries: new-generation secure electronic documents, trusted and certified cybersecurity solutions, biometrics and sensitive site protection, but also urban security and security for major events.
Supporting measures and tax incentives would help to move the needle. In the key domain of electronic identification, what is required is a system and a public-private deployment policy that will position France as a leader and support the construction of a trusted Internet.
Support for an ambitious European policy
Faced with relentless technological progress and disruption, it is right for France to promote an ambitious European policy to support leadership positions in the areas that will structure our societies and create thousands of jobs in the future: security for the Internet of Things and connected cars, security robotics, blockchain security applications, Big Data, deep learning, artificial intelligence and above all digital sovereignty.
The legal rules must be relaxed so that innovative solutions can be tested and the advances can be quickly adopted in areas where Europe has the capacity to act. The priorities identified by the CICS include Schengen area security, digital transformation, interoperability of security services, protection of critical transport and energy infrastructure, and smart city security. In addition, to ensure Europe's digital security, common standards of trust need to be achieved through European certification and regulation.
Lastly, we wish to support greater security efficiency and better resilience for France through clear, unified governance at State level. Since 2013, the Cofis committee (Comité de la Filière des Industries de Sécurité), which is chaired by the Prime Minister and organises discussions between the authorities, industry players and their research partners, has achieved significant progress in reducing fragmentation in the security sector.
It is time to go further. What is needed today is a comprehensive sector-wide framework for governance and control, with a sharper focus on public security policy, research budgets and procurement programmes.