Free «Infrastructure» Essay Paper

Introduction

It is becoming increasingly apparent that modern society exists in the environment of the mutual relations. Namely, all spheres of human activities are interconnected. Therefore, it should be noted that the infrastructure of any location has to be regarded as the entire system. On the contrary, such statement implies the fact that a vulnerability of a particular segment presents a potential threat to the entire infrastructure. Therefore, the vulnerability of infrastructure is apparently recognized as an important component of facility and thus, social welfare. Taking this point into consideration, it should be admitted that there are numerous issues, which have been raged unabated regarding the vulnerability of infrastructure. Thus, the following study lingers on the discussion of the key issues concerning the vulnerability of infrastructure. To be more exact, the paper discusses such issues as the interconnectivity of infrastructure’s segments, concepts of CIP management, and case study of the critical infrastructure in the local area.

Interconnectivity of Infrastructures

Concerning interconnection between different segments of the infrastructure, it is necessary to exemplify this relation in the following way. For instance, a power grids located near the airport developed a fault. As a consequence, the airport lost the electric supply. Needless to say that the proper and safe functioning of the airport is neglected. Therefore, airlines are unable to arrange the departures and arrivals of all flights within this airport because it is not technically possible. Doubtless, the consequences may vary from financial losses for the airport and airlines to the threat of an accident. One may argue that it is not a relevant example of the infrastructure’s vulnerability due to the interconnectivity with the other segments. However, it is worth saying that it has been scientifically proved that the vulnerability at one sector presents a danger to the entire baseline of the infrastructure (Macaulay, 2009). Therefore, the vulnerability assessment is supposed to be conducted with the consideration of the interconnectivity between the segments of the infrastructure (McDougall & Radvanovsky, 2013).

CIP Management Model

Regarding the orientation of CIP management model, it is worth saying that it is essentially important to take into account the peculiar features of the related infrastructure. Still, a mixture of centralized and local CIP management is the most applicable to the majority of cases. It can be explained by the following facts. Firstly, this combination enables the government to supervise localized CIP’s and provide them with necessary resources. Secondly, the local CIP’s still have their ability to design the infrastructure in accordance with the peculiar features of the related area (U.S. Homeland Security, 2007). As Olsson describes, the improvement of CIP capacities has been witnessed right after the implementation of explicit and implicit management. Thus, the cooperation between the centre and local sectors has reached its effective level (2009). In a like manner, the interconnectivity will obtain more close relations, as well. However, it is important to place the emphasis on the fact that CIP management usually takes periods of five-seven years (Frank, 2006). Therefore, the localized CIP model is supposed to be given more opportunities because the centralized CIP is likely to be amended due to political, economic, and social circumstances.     

Critical Infrastructure in the Nearest Area

In fact, the local infrastructure cannot be generally regarded as critical. Still, it is important to pay attention to the power grid, which is located in the area of an ambulance hospital. The necessity of electric power is out of question and thus, this segment of infrastructure has proved to be vulnerable. It is only one segment within the local infrastructure but it needs all levels of protection (O’Connor, 2010). First of all, the power grid undergoes damages from the strong wind during the storms. Likewise, rainfalls also flood over the power grid, so that an additional danger emerges. Referring to the local level of the problem, it should be admitted that the vulnerability is quite threatening. To be more specific, the power grid is a separate micro system (Lewis, 2006, p249). Hence, any damage is tending to make harm to the entire grid. The local area utilizes localized CIP model so that there is no support from the side of the center. Thus, the government’s need to be involved is quite evident in this case because local CIP management seems to lack the required resources for the restoring the security of the power grid (Dacey, 2001).

Conclusion

It is necessary to admit that the study has lingered upon the discussion of the key points of the infrastructure vulnerability. To be more exact, the paper has described the principles of interconnectivity of segments within a particular infrastructure. What is more, the description has been exemplified and has revealed that mutual relation of segments affects the vulnerability of infrastructure though. Further, the paper has discussed different approaches of CIP management. As a result, it has been proved that the most applicable CIP model is a mixture of localized and centralized approaches because it provides a complex mobilization on decision-making process and resources. Eventually, the study has analysed the critical infrastructure, which is located in the nearest area. In fact, this analysis has also supported the findings of two previous sections. Thus, it should be admitted that the interconnectivity of infrastructure segments is an important aspect because it involves both benefits and threats at different levels.