Today’s society is shaped by technology in unprecedented ways. We all face disruptive changes in our lives and new challenges which, paradoxically, can be both created and addressed by the various digital technologies that inform, empower and influence individual citizens on a massive scale. There has been no previous period in history where millions of ordinary citizens have been able to freely access knowledge and simultaneously share their lives and opinions with a global audience. The empowerment of citizens through accessible and affordable technologies represents a significant challenge to defence and security. The knowledge about weapons and explosive devices which can readily be accessed and the powerful and portable communication tools available today are in a large measure responsible for the phenomenon of “Asymmetric Warfare” in which individuals and small groups with limited traditional military resources can pose serious problems for the far better equipped armed forces responsible for defence and security. It is therefore the way in which technology empowers individual citizens with access to seemingly unlimited information and choice that creates the tensions, conflicts and disruptive changes in which the needs of society challenge the rights and responsibilities of the individual. These so-called “Grand Challenges” brought about by conflicts between the need for a secure society and individual citizen rights to privacy and civil liberties represent a potential threat to a secure and peaceful future, as is evidenced by on-going and long drawn out conflicts in countries striving for democratic freedom.