Assignment:
Several open questions need to be addressed to continue improving awareness of infrastructure interdependencies and increasing uptake of knowledge as it relates to recovering from and rebuilding after disaster events:
1. To what extent (and how) do contextual variables (e.g., preexisting vulnerabilities, legal frameworks, and institutional relationships) affect the value and use of information about infrastructure interdependencies and how they are represented and analyzed?
2. What would motivate or incentivize disaster planners and policy makers to more systematically assess and identify ways to address system interdependencies and prevent future cascading failures from occurring during a disaster?
3. How can system-level dynamics and interactions be modified as the nature of risk exposures, sensitivities, impacts, and resilience changes due to global environmental and demographic trends?
4. What strategic institution building is needed to enhance longitudinal and multifaceted data collection, sharing and modeling tools for the field of hazards and disaster recovery?
Readings:
From Awareness to Action: Accounting for Infrastructure Interdependencies in Disaster Response and Recovery Planning
By Anu Narayanan and Melissa Finucane