96. Digitization is an enabler for efficiency, competitiveness, and environmental sustainability in all sectors of our economy. Czechia’s security, economic development, social cohesion, and stability require us to enforce the principles of digital security whenever digital solutions are used. 97. Secure research, development, and deployment of new technologies is crucial in driving our future economic growth. The Government will foster an innovative and secure environment for cutting-edge research and development. There will be appropriately targeted financial support for technology projects with potential strategic implications, including projects with heightened risk factors such as higher degrees of sensitivity in relation to hazardous entities. 98. Economic security and technological development require efficient use of human resources and funds and a robust education system. The Czech Republic and the EU must aspire to get to the top of the technological world. We must avoid technological cooperation with actors who use advanced technologies to compromise our security interests and undermine international cooperation and rules-based order. 99. Public-private cooperation benefits all its actors. The public sector gains valuable experience and knowledge from the private sector. The secure communication and information exchange cycle is mutually reinforcing. To this end, the Government will facilitate targeted communication on security issues between the public administration system and the academic, nongovernmental, and private sectors. The public administration system will work together with the private sector to move towards a shared perception of threats and to assist companies as they adapt to the new environment. The strategic goal is to build relations and ties with the private sector so that the State has private sector partners to rely on in emergencies, including the opportunity to use the full potential and capacities of Czech companies as necessary. 100. The current technological development and increasing complexity of the topics places ever higher demands on the quality of the State’s employees responsible for decisions with long-term socio-economic implications. We must further improve the way we build the competences of such employees through theoretical and practical training, including training designed to raise their awareness of the manifestations and impacts of security threats. Decisions relevant to the secure functioning and development of our economy should be preceded by a thorough analysis based on sound input data and indicators. To this end, we must create and develop multidisciplinary research capacities combining technical, technological, and social science expertise, with socioeconomic, industrial, technological, and security research at the core. 32 101. To provide a stable energy environment, the State must utilize all competitive energy sources contributing to Czechia’s energy independence, while taking into consideration the environmental aspects. The relevant industries will need to adapt to such sources. The Government will take steps towards building new energy sources, especially the renewable and nuclear ones. Moreover, to have a sustainable and well-functioning economy, we should become more energy efficient. To this end, the Government will support energy efficiency projects of the private sector. Further development of the Energy Consultation and Information Centres network along with promotion of responsible consumer attitudes towards sustainability will also contribute to this goal. 102. Economic development is contingent on the resilience of crucial infrastructure. We will make our electricity grid even more resilient and prepare it for an increasing influx of renewable energy, safe integration of community energy sources, and development of smart networks. We will improve the resilience of the cross-border elements of our transmission networks. An equally important concern is security of the energy system as a coherent whole, especially the cyber security aspect, including the need to redefine critical energy infrastructure. We will update our national emergency management legislation to reflect the changed conditions. 103. We will define the essential infrastructures that do not fit within the definition of critical infrastructure (for example, in the health care, social services, and education sectors) to ensure that their energy and fuel needs are taken into account. We will also determine the responsibilities of each regional and municipal authority in the process of elaborating local energy resilience programmes for energy supply as well as for heat and fuel supply. 104. The State pays great attention to our water infrastructure. Holistic approach to water security encompasses the entire supply chain: catchment situation, water abstraction, treatment, storage, and distribution to consumers. We must review the risks regularly, including in response to the threats of extreme hydrometeorological events caused by climate change, as well as changes caused by human activity in water protection zones. We must effectively subsidize system-wide measures intended to efficiently interconnect water infrastructures, diversify water sources, integrate new sources in the system, optimize drinking water storage capacities, and modernize and develop water supply and sewage systems. 105. Food security is vital to the functioning of our society and healthy development of our population. Our State maintains a reasonable food security level: Czechia’s entire population has access to sufficient quantities of affordable and nutritious food presenting no risk to human and public health. To attain and 33

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