Critical Infrastructure Interdependencies

The Next Katrina is a good article that highlights many of the issues that are revealed by our complex society and the interdependencies that we have when it comes to critical infrastructure.

A short list includes:

• A long history of piecemeal development of the infrastructure

• A long history of not improving, or maintaining that infrastructure
• Failure to take a systems approach to how systems interface with one another
• Single points of failure among multiple infrastructures
• The possibility of cascading system failures--one impacting others
• A lack of political will to resolve issues between competing interests

This situation is also another example of how mapping of the infrastructure can help in identifying where infrastructures intersect and coordination is needed.

On this last note, the article overuses the word collaboration. I'd be happy if people just started sharing information and coordinating their activities. Partnering and collaborating are way down the road from these basics of interfacing with one another. It can all start just by communicating with one another.