For any developed country, the stable conduct of life for citizens, economies, and militaries—and the capacity to govern—depends on regular access to data and communications. This reliance makes communications and data flows a strategic target, not only for criminals but also for adversaries seeking geopolitical advantage. Defending against such threats is difficult because communication infrastructures are complex, interdependent systems with no single point of control. Addressing this challenge requires militaries, governments, and the private sector to coordinate and plan for attacks and conflict in the cyber domain. This article presents the Taiwan Digital Blockade Wargame, a scenario-based exercise designed to explore ways to improve the resilience of Taiwan’s information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure in the event of a conflict with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The wargame intends to identify overlapping opportunities that militaries, industry, and policymakers could jointly implement to enhance cyber defense and societal resilience during conflict. Methodologically, the paper contributes to the emerging practice of “preparedness wargaming," a form of critical infrastructure game that moves beyond diagnosing weaknesses to generating actionable solutions for resilience and defense. By framing wargaming as a generative research method, we show how structured gameplay and facilitated dialogue can surface novel, cross-sectoral strategies not apparent to any single actor. The article reports on the game design, process, and key recommendations, and argues that such generative wargames offer a promising tool for anticipating and mitigating complex, interdependent cyber disruptions in an era of increasing geopolitical tension.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE