Abstraction-decomposition space for critical infrastructure systems: A framework for infrastructure planning and resilience policies
Journal Title: Security and Defence Quarterly - Year 2022, Vol 39, Issue 3
Abstract
The objective of this work has been to propose a framework that will aid governments with the development of more coherent and effective infrastructure planning and resilience policies through a system-of-systems approach that is grounded in theory for complex sociotechnical systems. The framework has been developed by using a work domain analysis (WDA). The WDA consists of an abstraction hierarchy analysis and a part-whole decomposition. Together, the abstraction hierarchy and the part-whole description form the abstraction-decomposition space (ADS) for which the system constraints apply. By imposing constraints, the WDA promotes design for adaptation where actors within the system are allowed to adapt their behaviour as they find appropriate without violating the system’s constraints. The proposed ADS consists of five levels of abstraction and four levels of decomposition. By applying the ADS, it will aid decision making related to the overall purposes of the critical infrastructure system, the values and priority measures that are used to assess the system’s progress towards the functional purposes, as well as formulation of infrastructure needs that are necessary to achieve the functional purposes. The framework is formative in the sense that it reveals how work can be done in the critical infrastructure system. This is important because it is not feasible to prescribe, describe and risk assess all possibilities for action that are available in complex sociotechnical systems, especially when dealing with unforeseen events. Future research should focus on finding science-based yet useful in practice ways for establishing values and priority measures that encompass sustainability issues and resilience standards.
Authors and Affiliations
Stig Rune Sellevåg
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP709801
- DOI https://doi.org/10.35467/sdq/146789
- Views 63
- Downloads 0
Kaliningrad oblast in the military system of the Russian Federation
From the geopolitical point of view, the Kaliningrad Oblast, due to its exclave location, has become an area of strategic importance. Its strategic nature has been steadily increasing with the successive enlargements of...
From Memory to Freedom. Research on Polish Thinking about National Security and Political Community. Review of the book by Cezary Smuniewski
This article is review of the book by Cezary Smuniewski: Memory to Freedom. Research on Polish Thinking about National Security and Political Community.
Security Education in dangerous times.
The article is concerned with the problems of Security Education in the context of threats to man`s existence. The aim of the article is to present the possibilities of Security Education from processual and technical (e...
Operation Leyte – operational fires.
Operational fires are one of most important functions in a synergy effect with other operational functions that contribute to the achievement of targeted operational goals. The main operational goal of the American takeo...
Operations in subterranean systems: Terrain and weather variable
The overall objective of the research is to summarize tactical considerations, resulting from terrain and weather analysis, to support the preparation, planning and execution of subterranean operations. The study used th...