We would like to introduce you to the members of our School and show the diversity of the themes that are studied within it. In every Newsletter we give you a glimpse into one research project. This edition: PhD candidate Jip Boer (RU). 

Today, the vast majority of people in our society have access to and regularly use some forms of cryptography, meaning the practice of securing information and communications. This stands in sharp contrast to the early twentieth century, when only the largest international corporations and governments made ready use of such technologies. Since then the science has evolved from the use of codebooks and cipher tables, to the use of electro-mechanical machines, to fully electric and later digital methods at a rapid pace. Throughout much of the twentieth century, however, cryptology (including cryptanalysis, the breaking of encrypted messages), remained primarily the domain of governments, particularly intelligence agencies and militaries, as well as a small number of private companies.

My research project examines how these institutions and practices have developed within the Dutch state, relating to technological developments, broader institutional developments, geopolitical pressures and developments in what might be described as the Dutch government’s culture of secrecy (what information and communications required secrecy and importantly, from whom?).

The core of my project, the topic and its context are inherently political. Cryptology has been an integral part of statecraft, diplomacy and intelligence since the earliest civilizations. To use a somewhat cliché phrase out of context, knowledge is power. My project focuses on the exercise of power through the control of information and communications and how the means of doing so have developed within the Dutch state context.

What I find particularly compelling about this project is the fact that the topic remains relatively niche and understudied, especially in the Dutch context. This allows for a lot of ‘pioneering’ archival work and examining the subject from different perspectives, whether they be technological, organizational, etc. The project also lends itself well to interdisciplinary approaches, as the topics crosses fields from mathematics and computer science to administrative science and intelligence studies.