Civil Protection Engineering in a digital and VUCA world

This article discusses the relations that derive from the interventional action of civil protection activity in today's societies that, as is known, are defined by the existence of a panoply of risks, increasingly complex, uncertain and ambiguous. To this end, a contextualization of the sociotechnical characteristics of postmodern societies is presented, based on the concept of the global risk society. At the same time, the ambivalent importance of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the digital society in communication and informational processes is highlighted, as contributory mechanisms for greater security volatility, with repercussions on the definition, organization, preparation and operationalization of actions of civil protection. In this domain, and subsequently, the strategies and operational models to be followed in the area of Civil Protection Engineering (CPE) training are addressed, establishing a relationship with what is considered to be public policies in this matter. For this purpose, and as a proposal, a short range of essential requirements for the consecration and affirmation of CPE is presented, as an essential technical and scientific area, as a transversal discipline of improving a safety culture and increasing the resilience of current societies.