Urban Infrastructure and Its Protection Responding to the Unexpected Interest Group Report Group Members G. Giuliano (USC), Jose Holguin-Veras (CUNY), Dwight Beranck (USACE), Tim Putprush (FEMA), Laurence Rilett (Texas A&M), Laura Steinberg (Tulane), Rae Zimmerman (NYU)

Infrastructure Definition – Transportation and communications (all modes) – Utilities (electric, water, sewer, steam) – Built environment – Institutions that operate, manage infrastructure Function in urban economy Network characteristics Complex systems Critical element in disaster response

Research on Infrastructure Monitoring technologies – Instrumentation for rapid detection – Response capability as added benefit to monitoring systems – Automated, linked Critical Infrastructure – Methods for determining criticality, considering interdependencies within and between systems – Comprehensive vulnerability assessment in real-time – Simulations for assessing criticality – ICT as most critical infrastructure

More research on infrastructure Security and surveillance of commodity flows – Electronic clearance, WIM, scanners – Potential for rapid response, recovery Dynamic meta-logistics – Optimization of flows for crisis response – Appropriate IS for optimization – Access to infrastructure system control; infrastructure system management

More on infrastructure Evaluating infrastructure performance – Performance measurement – How outcomes are related to initial conditions, management practices, decision rules

Cross-cutting research ICT systems – How to develop robust systems “fail over” capability, self repairing systems Efficient redundancies Effective linkages, compatibilities – Interoperability How to link different hardware, software, data bases How to achieve linkages between organizations, decision- makers – The “right information” Who, what, when, where, at what cost

More cross-cutting research Models and simulations – Real-time dynamic optimization for decision support Contingent decision-making, damage chains Resource supply, demand, allocation, distribution – Scenario analysis, training for decision-makers – Agent-based models (models that learn) Virtually accessible expert knowledge – in real time Lessons learned, careful case studies – Agile research

Additional slides used in group discussion

Points from AM presentations Importance of early detection; detection from circumstantial evidence Problem of overwhelming the system – False threats, public demands for information Ability to suspend rules, regulations, standard behaviors Coordination of recovery as management problem – Who is in charge – Importance of pre-existing strategies, relationships Importance of “on the fly” decision-making Local actors, local data as critical elements

More Points from AM (+ PM) Information systems – The “mother of all systems” as the ideal – GIS, common base maps – Flexible, adaptive IS – Importance of timely information – What about IS failures – Technology mismatches Communications problems – Interoperability (physical systems, users, institutions) – data access, protocols – Interagency linkages

And more Transportation problems – Emergency resource distribution – Critical links Response logistics – Supply, demand, distribution Systems perspective – Interdependencies, cascading failures Role of geography Human factors issues Policy issues – How to affect organizational change – Resource allocation

Potential research Planning for the unexpected – Transferability of plans – Lessons learned; the NTSB approach How to improve response time Computer simulation – Evaluation of response strategies – Simulation research on adaptive behavior

Research, con’t Decision support for crisis response – Autonomous systems Designing the mother of all info systems – Info integration across organizations – Flexibility – Real-time – Data access, validity