Critical Infrastructure Issues - Assignment Example

Question 1

In the United States, the critical infrastructure of the country is important in the provision of the essential services such as security and health. The critical infrastructure is essential in the development of the economy that guides American society and essential for the functioning of the society and the economy in general through enabling Americans to access essential goods and services throughout the country such as power, oil, telecommunication services and food. In the United States, the general principle of critical infrastructure is to safeguard all the systems and assets in the country that are essential for national security, the economy and public health of the American society (Hurst, Merabti & Fergus, 2012). Therefore the general principle of critical infrastructure is to ensure that the country has adequate power to run industries or domestic activities such as cooking, heating or lighting, oil for running the transport sector, security personnel and equipment for securing the country and its boundaries and stability in commerce and trade. On the other hand, the concept of critical infrastructure is based on the minimum supply principle based on the need of the American society to survive as well as to thrive even in the aftermath of a disaster such as the recent Texas flooding from Harvey (House & Ivanovich, 2015). The concept of critical infrastructure protection is used in ensuring that critical infrastructure such as security, transport and food are protected through the intervention into their legislative background at all levels of the American society to enhance the resilience of the population amidst disaster. The critical infrastructure protection ensures that the country has enough reserves in terms of the essential goods that can promote the resilience of the American society through natural or man-made disasters. The learning points regarding critical infrastructure that is attained are based on the aims and the significance of the protections in the American society and humanity guaranteed by the critical infrastructure that is the concepts of critical infrastructure is essential in regulation of public health and food production and distribution in the country (House & Ivanovich, 2015). The protections used in the management of critical infrastructure are essential in ensuring that the resilience of the American society is guaranteed amidst disaster or catastrophic events.

However, due to the ever increasing government expenditure on security, energy and development of infrastructure in the community that increases the need for further development of the critical infrastructure mainly due to the increasing needs of the society (Por, 2013). The challenges that is being experienced on the part of the legislative processes regarding the development of critical infrastructure is the budgetary constraints as well as the increasing vulnerability of the American society that could be overwhelming on the existing systems and infrastructure in the case of a wide spread disaster. Despite the challenges, the opportunities for critical infrastructure in the society include the increasing willingness of enhancing the preparedness of the society due to the identification of deficiencies over the recent years (House & Ivanovich, 2015). Therefore over the next ten years, the critical infrastructure protection should be focused on the evolving threat of terrorism in the United States due to the increasing globalization and immigration. In the present day, the increasing use of telecommunication and technology in the management of security infrastructure or public health in the country creates new terrorism threats such as cyber terrorism that can be devastating to the American society. On the other hand, the United States government should also consider increasing critical infrastructure protection towards climate change over the next ten years. This is because of the increasing changes in the level of the ocean at the coastal regions of the country resulting in frequent flooding resulting in damage of infrastructure such as roads, telecommunication and power lines (Por, 2013). Therefore through the consideration of new terror threats alongside the changes in climate, the resilience of the American society can be enhanced amidst such disasters.

Question 2

Due to changes in the infrastructural development in the country, the critical infrastructure investment department should consider the state and nature of the critical infrastructure sectors over the coming decades. The long-term trends and changes in the United States such as the role of the government in the provision of critical infrastructure such as defence due to the ever-changing nature of terrorist threat in the country create new challenges to the Critical Infrastructure Investment Department (Homeland Security, 2014). Furthermore, over the recent years there has been an increasing aggression from the private sector towards infrastructural development throughout the country thus providing an avenue for the Critical Infrastructure Investment Department to effectively seek partners in funding the critical infrastructure sectors (Homeland Security, 2014). In the United States, all the 16 critical infrastructure sectors have needs and requirements that should be addressed accordingly in order to promote the overall infrastructural grade and global competitiveness in the American society therefore making it necessary for the Critical Infrastructure Investment Department to effectively allocate budget for the department.

However due to the variation of needs and priority in the management of critical infrastructure in the American society, the energy, defence and department of treasury that is banking and financing should get the funds. In the allocation of funds, prioritization of the department of energy is important in ensuring that the country has enough reserves for power generation for industries and domestic use while defence department ensures that the new terror threats such as cyber terrorism and biological warfare is effectively address thus guaranteeing the safety of the society (Palmer & Shenoi, 2009). Furthermore, through increasing funding for the department of treasury through focusing on banking and financing is important in the promotion of commerce in the country thus ensuring that the society benefits form availability of services and goods in the society that guarantees stability of the American society.

In the process of prioritizing the potential recipients, the priority-driven budgeting process should be used in a similar way that the national budget is handled. In the priority-driven budget process, the potential recipients are prioritised based on a systematic process whereby the available resources to be allocated are identified alongside the priority areas that should be covered first (The Government Finance Officers Association, 2011). Therefore depending in the trends and changes in the recent years, the priority sectors that are identified include the banking and financing, defence and energy sectors of the country. The next step in prioritizing the potential recipients involves identifying the results that are anticipated more clearly so that the sector involves aligns its objective towards the budgeting goals. Furthermore, in the process of prioritizing potential recipients the Critical Infrastructure Investment Department should also develop decision units that are composed of professional from the various sectors so that evidence for the decision making process is effectively evaluated (The Government Finance Officers Association, 2011). The evidence that is presented by the decision units developed within the department will be compared to the priority results that are expected so that the Critical Infrastructure Investment Department can effectively prioritize the potential recipients. In the process, the resources are allocated after selecting the priority sector which should ensure accountability of the critical infrastructure protection through ensuring efficiency and innovation in the entire process. For example upon selection of the defense sector, the department of defense should ensure accountability of the resources provided through effectiveness in the fight against terrorism as well as coming up with new strategies for managing emerging threats such as cyber terrorism thus ensuring the safety of the American society.

Question 4

In the society, unexpected events occur due to natural or artificial catastrophic events that are extraordinary or unpredictable in nature. In the event of such an occurrence in the community, the role of resilience is to enable the society to effectively adapt or withstand the catastrophic event through social, economic or political intervention in the society (Plough et al., 2013). On the other hand, the role of recovery is to enable the society to get back after a difficult period or distress. For example in the United States, the American society effectively recovered after the great recession of 2008 through the banking and financial intervention that were put in place by the treasury department in the United States signifying the role of critical infrastructural sectors such as treasury in the American society. Based on the analysis of the concept of recovery and resilience, recovery is the process that occurs after the occurrence of a disaster which enables the society to work through the distress to attain a situation that is near normalcy. On the other hand, the concept of resilience involves developing the capacity of the society to with stand distress through setting up counter-disaster measures through the various sectors of the critical infrastructure (Guidotti et al., 2016). In critical investment protection and security a ‘good’ example of recovery is providing relief supply and services such as food, electricity and telecommunication services to the victims of Texas flood victims while a ‘bad’ example of recovery is investing in storm water drains and hurricane friendly infrastructure among the coastal communities. On the other hand, a ‘good’ example of resilience is providing rescue personnel at standby, constructing storm drainages and stocking food and medical supplies for managing disaster while a ‘bad’ example of resilience is treating those injured during a disaster. In ensuring that the concept of resilience and recovery is implemented across the health and public health sector the senior decision makers in the government and healthcare industry should conducted frequent evaluation of the healthcare risks in the society. The evaluation of health risks in the society is important in identifying the changing trends in the occurrence of illness that is necessary for policy development and planning (Duit, 2015). The identification of emerging health risk such as Ebola by the health and public health sector due to the increased globalization and illegal immigration into the country ensures that the concepts of resilience and recovery are implemented through the development of screening and isolation facilities in the country. In an instance where there is adequate information, the resilience and recovery concept of a society can be enhanced through the allocation of resources by the senior decision makers in the government.

Question 6

Critical infrastructure risks involve natural, human-made or accidental threats that might cause the damage or loss of critical infrastructure in a society in situations whereby such threat occurs (Zio, 2016). Natural risk to critical infrastructure includes earthquakes, tornados, tsunami, flooding or volcanic eruptions in the environment that causes damage to electricity, telecommunication or healthcare infrastructure in the community. Human-made threats include bioterrorism, cyber terrorism or bomb attacks that cause the destruction of the critical infrastructure in a society. Furthermore, accidental threats include transport collisions or accidents such as road accidents, air accidents or sinking of a ship due to technical issues that causes pollution of the sea due to the spread of hazardous substances. On the other hand, vulnerability refers to the characteristics of a system, asset or infrastructure that exposes it to loss or degradation due to some threat in the environment (Robles et al., 2014). For example infrastructures such as roads that are constructed in coastal regions are vulnerable to damage when a natural risk such as flooding due to a hurricane occurs. In critical infrastructure protection and security, among the strengths of approaches used in the management of risks and vulnerability include consideration of the geographical location of the infrastructures. The suitability of the geographical location of infrastructure is one of the strengths of managing risks and vulnerabilities in the environment such as ensuring adequate supply of complimentary resources such as energy, roads, telecommunication services and human resource (Zio, 2016). For example a hospital that is located in an urban region with developed transport and communication infrastructure minimizes vulnerability such as inaccessibility of services or poor transport and communication networks. Strength of assessing risk and vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure includes promoting the resilience of the society through technical and engineering interventions such as development of protective features against the threats in the environment. The critical infrastructure protection and security is important in ensuring that the function of infrastructures in the society is achieved through minimizing the occurrence of the risk and vulnerability.