Europe’s digital borders will be judged by how they cope when technology fails, says UoG resilience expert

As millions of travellers prepare to head off for a half-term holiday, a University of Gloucestershire resilience expert warns that the success of Europe’s increasingly digital borders depends not only on sophisticated technology but on what happens when that technology fails.

The European Union’s Entry/Exit System (EES), which became fully operational in April this year, represents a significant change in the way UK and other non-EU travellers enter the Schengen Area. This is the border-free travel zone comprising 29 European countries, including tourist hotspots France, Italy and Spain.

Replacing traditional passport stamps, the system records travellers’ entry and exit information alongside biometric data, including fingerprints and facial images. The aim is to improve security, strengthen border management and streamline the movement of travellers.

But Nadine Sulkowski (pictured below), Senior Lecturer in Systemic Resilience Management at University of Gloucestershire, says the increasing reliance on digital infrastructure raises an important question about resilience and how travellers are impacted when the system breaks down.

“At its core, the system reflects a broader trend in public administration,” she said. “Decisions and verifications that were once undertaken through paper records and human judgement are transferred to databases, algorithms and interconnected digital platforms.

“The border crossing becomes less a matter of presenting documentation and more an exercise in successful digital verification. But the true measure of a digital border system is not how sophisticated it appears when everything is working as intended, but how effectively it can cope when something goes wrong.

“We tend to focus on what new technology can achieve – faster processing, greater security and more automation – but resilience is about planning for those occasions when normal systems and processes are disrupted.

“Large-scale digital systems inevitably experience problems. These may may range from equipment failure, network overload, databases errors, maintenance requirements to interruptions in connectivity and vulnerability to cyber-attacks.

“All are unavoidable features of complex technological environments. The critical question is not whether disruptions will occur, but how effectively organisations respond when they do.”

At airports, ferry terminals and international rail stations, even relatively small disruptions can have significant consequences for travellers.

Sulkowski, a Fellow of the Institute of Strategic Risk Management, said: “A border crossing is a particularly sensitive environment because travellers cannot simply log out and try again later. A technical problem at one checkpoint can rapidly result in queues, missed departures and pressures that spread across the wider transport network.

“For passengers, that can be particularly frustrating because they may have the correct documentation, have followed every requirement and arrived in good time, but their journey can still depend on whether biometric equipment, databases and communications networks are functioning correctly.

“Recent disruptions, including lengthy queues at Dover, delays at Eurostar terminals and failures affecting wider transport networks, illustrate how technical problems can rapidly escalate. What begins as a localised system failure can quickly turn into a large-scale logistical challenge and disrupt journeys for thousands of travellers.””

Sulkowski said growing automation raises questions around accessibility and inclusion, particularly for travellers who may be less confident using technology, while technology failures can also place considerable pressure on frontline employees.

Sulkowski said: “Border officers, transport workers and customer-facing staff often become the visible representatives of systems they did not design and cannot directly control.

 “Technology can automate routine processes, but resilience still depends fundamentally on people. When systems fail, it is often frontline staff who absorb the disruption, adapt procedures and find ways of keeping an organisation functioning.

“That makes training, contingency planning and clear decision-making processes just as important as investment in the technology itself.”

The growing use of digital infrastructure at borders raises wider questions about responsibility and accountability when systems fail, including the roles of technology providers, border authorities and transport operators.

Sulkowski said: “Innovation attracts attention because it promises progress. Resilience is less visible as it concerns contingencies, redundancies and recovery plans existing in the background. Yet, these are the features that determine whether disruption remains manageable or escalates into widespread operational failure.

“The future of border management may be determined not by how sophisticated digital systems become, but by how effectively societies cope when those systems inevitably encounter difficulties.

“For travellers, confidence comes not from innovation alone, but from the assurance that when technology breaks down, the journey can continue.”