David Rehak

Quantitative evaluation of the synergistic effects of failures in a critical infrastructure system

A critical infrastructure is a complicated system whose failure (in whole or in part) has a significant impact on national interests, including security, the economy and basic human needs. The system consists of relevant sectors, elements and their mutual linkages. In order to study critical infrastructures, it is necessary to apply a systems approach based on cross-sectoral evaluation and research into the linkages between the individual critical infrastructure sectors. Specifically, it is necessary to describe the individual vertical and horizontal levels of each critical infrastructure and the associated linkages. From this point-of-view, a critical infrastructure is embedded within the broader context of emergencies and enterprises, representing a compact and mutually-interconnected system.This paper focuses on quantitatively assessing the impacts of critical infrastructure failures. It presents a theory of synergistic linkages, their levels and the synergistic effects due to the joint action of impacts, which increase the overall impact on the critical infrastructure and on society. The concepts are formalized in the SYNEFIA methodology, which is applied in a case study involving the critical infrastructure of the Czech Republic. In particular, the methodology is applied to determine the synergistic effects of disruptions to multiple sub-sectors of the Czech infrastructure.

Risk catalogue as a software tool for supporting the business continuity planning

A software tool of risk management developed in support of organisation activities continuity planning is presented in this paper. The Catalogue of Risks (version 2.0) is the tool through which it is possible to record the identified risks in business, evaluate them and prioritise. Besides the description of this software tool, this paper also deals with the risk management process with focus on the subprocesses of risk identification, analysis and assessment.

Informing the population in case of extraordinary events by means of digital video broadcasting - terrestrial

Timely and clearly transmitted information about the nature of threats is a basic tool to assist the minimization of consequences of extraordinary events from the point of view of both prevention of loss of life (e.g. in a form of evacuation) and minimization of damage to property (i.e. by implementing protective measures in the threatened area). Informing the population is realized in many available ways and by many available means, e.g. by nationwide networks of television and radio stations, by public address systems in towns, municipalities and facilities or by portable public address devices. However, a significant problem emerges in the course of evaluation of efficiency of these means especially in the area of audibility and intelligibility. The aim of the article is the presentation of a new way of informing the public in the course of extraordinary events using the existing DVB-T infrastructure. For this way of informing, an appropriately equipped broadcasting station and installation of an encoder between the broadcasting station and a multiplexer are necessary. The stated solution thus will make it possible to add information in voice to TV or radio broadcasting. This information then can be received by television (after adding an additional decoder) and radio receivers, which provides the high intelligibility of transmitted information.

Resilience of Critical Infrastructure Elements and Its Main Factors

Resilience in a critical infrastructure system can be viewed as a quality that reduces vulnerability, minimizes the consequences of threats, accelerates response and recovery, and facilitates adaptation to a disruptive event. In this context, comprehensive knowledge of the environment and of the main factors whereby resilience is determined, limited, and affected can be said to represent the fundamental precondition for strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure elements. Based on this idea, the article defines the initial and functional conditions for building and strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure elements, i.e., the resilience concept in a critical infrastructure system. Subsequently, factors determining the resilience of these elements are identified, both in terms of technical resilience (i.e., robustness and recoverability) and organizational resilience (i.e., adaptability). In the final part of the article, these factors are presented in greater detail in the context of case studies focused on the electricity, gas, information and communications technology, and road transport sectors. Determination of these factors is examined with regard to the intensity of a disruptive event and the performance of the respective critical infrastructure element.

Cascading Impact Assessment in a Critical Infrastructure System

Abstract Research into disruptions to, or failures in, the Critical Infrastructure (further only CI), represents an important area of investigations into the phenomena in (a) Critical Infrastructure System (further only CIS). The results arising from the prediction of the intensity of problems - and the line(s) of their impacts spread–patterns, are an important part of any decision-making process carried out by the involved parties for the early and effective realization of Safety and Security Measures. Therefore, this articles aim is to assess cascading effects in a CI system. The first part of the article deals with the typology of impacts - the aspects that form their nature; and the ways these impacts spread in a CI structure. Furthermore, the current approaches to the assessment of such cascading impacts are also described. Based on these facts, the authors define the principles and framework for assessing cascading impacts in a CI system. The CIA Method (Cascading Impact Assessment - further only CIA), which serves for the quantification of the spread of cascading impacts in a CIS, is the most important part of this article. The essence of this method lies in its assessment of all lines of business occurring in the chosen area, as well as an assessment of their resilience and links; subsequent to this, a structural map of the risk of the spread of cascading impacts was created.

Analytical tool for risk assessment of landscape and urban planning: Spatial development impact assessment

This article covers the issue of preventive protection of population, technical infrastructure, and the environment against adverse impacts of careless spatial development. In the first section, we describe the relationship between sustainable development and spatial development. This discussion is followed by a review of the current state of spatial development security, primarily at a national level in the Czech Republic. The remainder of the paper features our original contribution which is a tool for risk assessment in landscape and urban planning, the Spatial Development Impact Assessment (SDIA) tool. We briefly review the most significant semi-quantitative methods of risk analysis that were used as a starting point in implementing the tool, and we discuss several of SDIA’s salient features, namely, the assessment process algorithm, the catalogue of hazard and asset groups, and the spatial development impact matrix.