University of Bath Research Bolsters UK Cyber-Domain Efforts

The ‘Cyber Statecraft in an Era of Systemic Competition’ project has received over £850,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), with research centred at the University of Bath, King’s College London and the Royal United Services Institute.

Research at Bath will focus on the theory, practice, and evaluation of cyber statecraft. It will develop a clearer understanding of the role of cyber statecraft in the competitive reshaping of international order, specifically in the context of the UK seeking global leadership in cyber security and governance. It will provide a refreshed understanding of the central concept of ‘cyber power’ and novel methodological approaches to the comparative evaluation of national cyber power.

“Despite the centrality of cyberspace in contemporary life we often lack the conceptual tools to fully grasp its social, political and economic importance. By unpacking the idea of ‘cyber statecraft’ in this project – in both theory and practice – we will be contributing to update the analytical toolbox that helps us understand the international relations of the digital age,” said Dr André Barrinha, from the University of Bath’s Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies.

At Bath, the project is a collaboration between researchers in the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, and the School of Management, and will be hosted by Bath’s new Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour.

“The combination of disciplines addressing a key question – in this case, international relations, economics, and information systems – is a great example of how we are going to focus on some of the challenges of security in the digital world through innovative, interdisciplinary work,” said Professor Adam Joinson from the School of Management, and Co-Director of the new Institute.

Dr Joanna Syrda from the School of Management, added: “Evolving concepts, such as cyber power, require new and improved theoretical models. But in order to model – in theory or practice – we need to define and quantify. We will work together on developing measures of cyber power that can meaningfully help evaluate effectiveness of cyber statecraft.”