Critical infrastructure can fail – crisis expert Jonas Muñoz Sylvest helps Danish organisations and companies prepare for the worst

When the power goes out, everything comes to a halt. That became clear in Southern Europe recently, when a widespread blackout hit several countries, including Spain and Portugal. It wasn’t the first time such an event occurred – but this time, the consequences were significant. Jonas Muñoz Sylvest, crisis expert and advisor to both public and private organisations, is less concerned with the cause than with the consequences.

It was striking how quickly a society can be brought to a standstill, both vertically and horizontally, when something as central as electricity is no longer available, he says.

According to him, the incident highlights just how fragile a modern society can be when all functions are affected simultaneously.

We’ve built our society in a way that depends on technology working. If we’re all hit by the same infrastructure failure at once, we’re in serious trouble,” he says, pointing out that our dependence on electricity isn’t new – it has grown steadily since the invention of electric power. But digitalisation has greatly increased that dependency.

Crisis readiness

Jonas Sylvest also notes that the incident serves as a timely illustration of what the Danish Emergency Management Agency sought to highlight with its campaign on three-day emergency preparedness.

“They recommended that citizens keep items like batteries, a hand-cranked radio, and drinking water. It may have seemed a bit silly at the time, but now it doesn’t look so far-fetched. It’s not about panic buying – it’s about asking: What do I do if the power goes out – as a private individual, but also as an organisation?

In that sense, the power outage becomes a wake-up call – not just for governments and public authorities, but for all levels of society.

Crisis preparedness requires both maturity and action. In Denmark, critical infrastructure has long been a focus – for example, through the EU’s Critical Entities Resilience Directive (CER), which imposes requirements for emergency planning and security on operators of critical societal functions and infrastructure. But according to Jonas Sylvest, plans on paper are not enough.

“It’s a matter of maturity. A mature company not only has control of its core operations but also its emergency preparedness – technically, physically, and organisationally, he says.

Crisis management at three levels

Effective crisis management must encompass three levels: tactical, operational, and strategic.

The tactical level is made up of the people solving the problem in real time – like IT technicians. The operational level deals with coordination and sharing information across the organisation. The strategic level is leadership – thinking long term, acting strategically, and ensuring the survival of the business,” Jonas Sylvest explains.

Many companies may have implemented a range of technical security solutions – but forget to train the organisation.

Special forces might spend 95% of their time training and 5% on actual missions. That mindset is something organisations and businesses should adopt too.

Exercises are a key part of becoming a robust and resilient company. They help organisations adjust their plans and preparedness structures – and are increasingly becoming a competitive advantage.

We’re heading toward a future where resilience will also be a competitive parameter. We’re already seeing that it’s becoming a requirement for suppliers to have a reliable and well-documented crisis management setup – including regular drills to test it.

He also emphasises the importance of analogue backups – such as physical emergency plans and printed contact lists.

Very few of us can remember a phone number these days. So if all digital systems fail, what then?

That’s why he works with organisations through a risk-based approach: starting with identifying potential risks and assessing their likelihood and impact. Here, he recommends using the National Risk Assessment published by the Danish Emergency Management Agency.

Then you push those relevant risks down through the organisation and ask: What does this mean for us – and what do we do to mitigate it?

The landscape is changing

Geopolitical shifts and conflicts are creating new threats. As the global balance of power changes, so too does the threat landscape for Danish companies.

“We’ve perhaps become used to relying 100% on our Western allies, but that’s no longer so clear-cut,” says Jonas Sylvest.

He points out that many Danish organisations are heavily reliant on American IT systems and infrastructure.

We’ve put a lot of eggs in one basket. If a conflict arises and, say, the U.S. pulls the plug on one of our most widely used operating system licenses, the consequences could be massive.”

The new threat landscape isn’t necessarily military – it’s characterised by hybrid attacks, digital dependence, and pressure tactics.

It’s no longer just about bombs and soldiers. Today, it’s just as much about access to data, software, and financial levers. And we mustn’t forget the use of misinformation, opinion manipulation, sabotage, and political pressure. All of this places new demands on preparedness and strategic thinking – in both public and private organisations,” he emphasises.

In the end, it’s about not being lulled into complacency by prosperity and technology.

There’s nothing unusual about a power outage. We’ve seen it before. But every time it happens, it should remind us – it can happen to us, right now, as we speak.

Learn more at the webinar

EGN members has an exclusive opportunity to meet Jonas Sylvest, when he joins the live webinar studio on June 12th. Read more and sign up here.