5. Survey on Media Perception and Use During Infrastructure Failure

Security and conflict research mainly focuses on issues of vulnerability, reinforcement of resilience and preservation or recovery of critical infrastructures. Additionally, the importance of social media and crisis apps is being increasingly acknowledged. To what degree is German civil society effectively prepared for the case a crisis occurs? Which kinds of ICT are being used in everyday life and in a potential infrastructure failure? Our contribution presents the results of a representative survey with 1,024 participants in Germany, which demonstrate that threat awareness, preparation, effective crisis management and distribution of crisis apps are still relatively low in Germany, while traditional communication and information channels as well as informal information networks are preferred. The results additionally point out the significant potential for support which ICT have for increasing risk awareness, facilitating information transfer and improving communication between civil society, critical infrastructure operators and authorities.