Admission requirements
This course is part of the minor Crisis, Risk & Disaster Management. The course is taught at TU Delft by a lecturer from TU Delft. The course can only be taken within the framework of participation in the minor CRD. This minor is a cohesive set of courses designed to help you build your knowledge in a logical, connected way. It is not possible to follow single courses.
Description
Our current society is intrinsically linked with and dependent on technology. Safety and security risks are often associated with these technologies, such as earthquakes associated with gas extraction, the risks of nuclear waste, hacking of self-driving cars, or cybercrime on the internet. This causes society to be constantly exposed to 'risk'. Often, the risk level is only known after technologies have been deployed and undesired events occur. Contrary to relatively well-understood risks in organisations, the introduction of new technologies into society may entail uncertain, unforeseen, and ambiguous (safety and security) risks and give rise to societal and political debate.
In this course, you will learn to identify possible (safety and security) risks associated with new technologies, and provide suggestions for responsible design and deployment. In addition, you will learn to investigate the side effects of technologies and their potential effect on moral values, such as surveillance technologies and their effects on privacy and inclusion.
Course objectives
After this course, you will be able to:
- Explain the goals and methods of technology evaluation and assessment, and apply them to a specific case
- Identify and analyse possible security and/or safety implications of a (new) technology
- Analyse how (new) technologies can be used to improve security and/or safety, and identify and analyse possible side-effects, such as the effect on other values
- Provide suggestions for the responsible design and deployment of a new technology with respect to security, safety, and other values
- Perform a technology evaluation and assessment for an emerging technology in a multidisciplinary group
Timetable
The course schedule can be found at the TU Delft timetable:https://mytimetable.tudelft.nl/schedule. You can find the course schedule via ‘add timetable’ after logging in with your TU Delft credentials. Risk Management of Emerging Technologies has course code TBM025D.
Mode of instruction
This course includes lectures and working classes.
Attendance at the lectures and working classes is mandatory.
A student can miss a maximum of three classes. Both lectures and working classes are counted separately, with each session equaling one class. If a student misses more than three classes, they will not receive their final grade (except in highly exceptional circumstances).
The course Risk Management of Emerging Technologies has 5 ECTS. This corresponds to a total time investment of 140 hours. Dividing these hours by the eight weeks allocated for the course means that, on average, per week, you will have to spend 17,5 hours on this course. This total entails preparing for and following the lectures and working classes, reading articles, making assignments, etc.
Assessment method
Technology assessment – Group project – 50% total grade
A technology evaluation and assessment of an emerging technology will be performed in a group. This group project counts for 50% of the total grade. For this project, you will work in a group of approximately four students.
During the weekly working classes – where attendance is mandatory, you will receive weekly assignments and guidance to develop the technology assessment.
The group project will be assessed through an oral presentation in which the students jointly present and explain the project. Detailed instructions for this will be provided during the working classes. The presentation will be followed by an oral examination, during which the instructors of the course will ask additional questions about the project and the course material covered in the lectures and working classes. These questions will be randomly addressed to different group members. It is therefore essential that each student has a thorough understanding of the entire project and is able to answer all questions. It is not permitted for the group to decide among themselves who will answer which question. If there are significant differences between group members in their ability to answer the questions correctly, this may result in different individual grades within the same group. The type of questions you can expect during this oral examination will also be explained during the working classes.
A resit of the group project is possible if:
You have scored lower than a 5.5 during the first opportunity
You passed the group project, but the average of your grades is lower than 5.5
You were unable to attend the first assessment opportunity
If you participate in the resit opportunity, where you improve the first version of the performed technology assessment, the maximum grade you can obtain is 6.0. Since it is possible for different individual grades to be awarded within the same group, the obligation to resit may apply to the entire group or only to some group members.
Problems with group cooperation should be reported to the module manager as they occur and will be taken into account in the grade if necessary.
On-campus exam – Individual – 50% total grade
An individual on-campus exam counts for 50% of the total grade. The exam is closed-book. The exam is digital and will be administered via the ANS platform. The exam will consist of several open-ended questions that need to be elaborated in a restricted time period.
You can only attend the resit of the exam if:
You have scored lower than a 5.5 on the first exam
You passed the exam, but the average of your grades is lower than a 5.5
You were unable to attend the first sit of the exam
Grading and passing the course
For all courses of the minor CRD, final grades are rounded off to the nearest half point, except between 5 and 6. At both universities, for grades between 5.0 and 6.0, a 5.5 and higher will be rounded up to a 6.0, and grades below 5.5 will be rounded down to 5.0. No final grades between 5.0 and 6.0 will be given.
In order to pass the course, the grade on the individual exam has to be 5.5 or more out of 10, and the grade on the group project has to be 5.5 or more out of 10. Furthermore, in order to pass the course, the mean of both assessments (individual exam and group project) has to be at least 6.0 out of 10.
This course is part of the minor Crisis, Risk & Disaster Management. This minor needs to be completed in one academic year. It is not possible to retake courses that you have not passed during the following academic year. If you think an exception to this rule applies to you, please contact the Board of Examiners of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (Leiden University).
No matter what academic institution a student comes from, the minor Crisis, Risk & Disaster Management falls under the course and examinations regulations of the bachelor Security Studies of Leiden University. These course rules are further expanded on in the rules and regulations of the Board of Examiners of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (Leiden University). This Board of Examiners is also the relevant body for disputes.
Resit, review & feedback
Upon request, students have the right to inspect their assessed work for a period of 20 working days after the announcement of the results of the exam or the project. During the inspection of the assessed work, it is not permitted to copy the underlying examination questions. If a student wishes to inspect the results, the student needs to contact the module manager via e-mail to make an appointment within the period of 20 working days after the announcement of the results. This appointment cannot take place online.
Reading list
For all six courses from the minor CRD – so both the courses offered by Leiden University as by TU Delft – the Brightspace platform from Leiden University will be used. So all study materials for this course can be found on the Brightspace platform from Leiden University.
Registration
More information available with TU Delft.
Contact
Dr. Karolien van Nunen
Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management
Department of Values, Technology and Innovation
Safety & Security Science Group
E-mail: K.L.L.vanNunen@tudelft.nl
Room: C1.130 (building 31 TU Delft, Jaffalaan 5, 2628 BX Delft)
Remarks
All lectures, assignments, and communication for this course will be in English.
Lectures for this course take place at TU Delft (building 31 TU Delft, Jaffalaan 5, 2628 BX Delft).
Course descriptions are synchronised between the study guides of Leiden University and TU Delft. However, this may take some time. For the latest description of this course, please check the corresponding page in the [TU Delft study guide]:https://studiegids.tudelft.nl/. Risk Management of Emerging Technologies has course code TBM025D.
Please be aware that the minor CRD needs to be completed in one academic year. It is not possible to retake courses that you have not passed during the following academic year. If you think an exception to this rule applies to you, please contact the board of examiners of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs.