Critical infrastructure dependencies: A network analysis based on expert knowledge

Critical Infrastructures do not operate in isolation. On the contrary, the failure of one infrastructure can result in the impairment of many others, potentially amplifying the consequences of disruptive events such as extreme weather. A first step towards limiting such cascading effects is to improve our understanding of the dynamic dependencies within the network of socio-technical infrastructures. We contribute to this issue by presenting an analysis of infrastructure dependencies based on expert knowledge. To this end, thirteen experts from ten distinct infrastructure sectors within a city were interviewed to identify dependencies among them. The interviews were conducted based on an interview guideline that was arranged in accordance with the four phases of the resilience cycle. This division allows us to derive an individual network for each phase, ultimately providing a way to visualize and analyze the dynamical evolution of dependencies over the course of a crisis scenario. Overall, the paper presents a methodology for gaining valuable insights into the dynamics of infrastructure dependencies that can inform future disaster resilience analyses. Our approach emphasizes the importance of considering the interplay between different actors and that this interplay is not static but evolves in response to a changing crisis situation.

Keywords: Critical Infrastructure, infrastructure dependencies, network analysis, expert interviews, resilience cycle, crisis management.