Resilience in a complex world - Avoiding cross-sector collapse

In a more and more globalized world we have created unprecedented connectivity, mainly by striving for better business opportunities. But with such a strong global connectivity, the risks associated have also changed: formerly local issues can now have global impact, and systems are often too complex to fully understand their interdependencies. In addition, the speed of change is increasing in many sectors of society and the economy. So we are building a future world with more and more interdependencies of which we understand less and less, and this process is accelerating sharply. This means that we are mixing together the typical ingredients for an upcoming crash, which in the worst case could mean the collapse of society as we know it. To avoid such a scenario, a coordinated effort of public authorities, civil society, industry, and academia will be required. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.