Risk Economics
How do we measure value and risk in a world built on software, data, algorithms, and networks? My work in risk economics explores this question through new frameworks for digital asset valuation, risk measurement, and systemic resilience. Bringing together economics, computer science, risk management, and systems thinking, I sought to bridge the gap between traditional economic theory and the realities of the digital age.
This work introduced novel valuation models, economic principles, providing new ways to understand and quantify digital risk and value. I was the first to academically propose standardised measurement units for digital risk, leveraging established risk units in biology and finance. It also explored broader questions about how technological change reshapes economic systems, including the "Law of the Machine Age", the idea that as machines become increasingly capable, value creation shifts toward what is uniquely human.
Through my work at Google, I continued to explore how societies can better understand, measure, and navigate risk in an increasingly interconnected world, while helping organisations build resilience in the complex systems that underpin the digital economy.
Book
Published by Elsevier in 2019, Digital Asset Valuation and Cyber Risk Measurement: Principles of Cybernomics explored a simple but increasingly important question: how do we measure value and risk in a digital economy? Drawing on economics, technology, and systems thinking, the book proposed new principles, valuation models, and measurement frameworks for understanding the assets and risks that underpin the modern world.
Selected Publications
Ruan K. (2016) ‘Introducing cybernomics: A unifying economic framework for measuring cyber risk’, Computer & Security, Elsevier
Ruan K. (2019) ‘Digital Asset Valuation and Cyber Risk Measurement: Principles of Cybernomics’, Academic Press, Elsevier Economics
Selected Speaking
Host, Schloss Dagstuhl Workshop, 29 Mar - 3 April, 2020
"Digital asset valuation and cyber risk measurement: economic theories for the 4th Industrial Revolution", SINET, Global Cybersecurity Innovation Summit, the British Museum, London, 30 January, 2020
"Digital asset valuation and cyber risk measurement: economic theories for the 4th Industrial Revolution", University of Oxford, 12 November 2019
"Cloud security and cyber risk measurement", Web Summit, Lisbon, 4-6 November 2019
"Digital asset valuation and cyber risk measurement: economic theories for the 4th Industrial Revolution", Keynote, ATM & Cyber Security, 8 October 2019, London
"4th Industrial Revolution - Cyber Security: Financial Services", Shaping Horizons, University of Cambridge, 3 September, 2019
"How to benchmark enterprise risk posture", InfoSec Magazine Online Summit, 24-25 September, 2019
"A Whistle-stopping tour of Enterprise Top Risks", InfoSec Europe 2019, Olympia, London, 4 June 2019
"Cybernomics: Digital Asset Valuation and Cyber Risk Measurement", Cybersecurity Asia 2018, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5 September 2018
"Measuring and minimising the impact of cybercrime on the economy", Cybersecurity Asia 2018, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 4 September 2018