Tough Talk

How the Infrastructure Security Partnership is driving the move from protection to resilience. By Bill Anderson, TISP

“The next step is to work with the private sector owners and operators of the 85 percent of our nation's critical infrastructure to educate them on importance and practicality of resilience”

Resilience is more than a buzzword used to describe the strength of community. When considering the subject of infrastructure protection, we ignore many other crucial aspects of securing the nation and its critical infrastructure. Infrastructure resilience addresses the development and implementation of exercised measures and policies to reduce the disaster and devastation impacts of all types of hazards to manageable effects that can be quickly overcome. The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP) is working with all levels of government to make infrastructure resilience a long-term priority. “Our next step is to also work with the private sector owners and operators of the 85 percent of our nation’s critical infrastructure to educate them on importance and practicality of resilience,” says Bill Anderson, TISP’s new Director.

According to Donald Bliss, a member of the TISP Committee on Critical Infrastructure and Regional Resilience and President and Chief Operating Officer of NI2 Center for Infrastructure Expertise, “The security and resiliency of the nation’s infrastructure is fragile at best. While some sectors have made measurable progress toward improving their resiliency and security, the overall deterioration and poor condition of our infrastructure means that it is particularly susceptible to natural disasters and terrorist attacks.” TISP agrees that of particular concern are those very important critical infrastructure assets and key resources whose loss would have a devastating impact on our nation’s economy or our way of life.

There are two fields that touch all 18 Critical Infrastructure/Key Resources sectors where the industry and government need to place more emphasis. One is research in resilience policies and practices and development of technologies support redundancy and resiliency. The other is cooperative investment strategies. Bliss sees TISP as “a unique private-public consortium that can provide an impartial forum for developing ideas and strategies to strengthen the security and resiliency of our nation’s critical infrastructure. TISP has the demonstrated experience to provide thoughtful, effective solutions to the complex challenges that our nation faces as it tries to improve infrastructure protection.

“Facilitating public and private sector discourse regarding R&D and investment strategies is essential to the TISP mission to lead collaborative effort that advances the practice and policies of infrastructure security and resiliency. We established three new committees to support our events, and have scheduled the Summer Forum to address Enhancing Infrastructure Resiliency through a Planned Investment Strategy to be held on July 29, in Washington, DC,” says Anderson. Investment strategies that take into consideration the reduction of risk, stabilization of the work force, improved efficiencies (such as improvements to the road and rail transportation system that result in faster cargo supply chains), redundancy, business continuity and quick recovery from a catastrophic event will realize significant returns to stakeholders and investors. Infrastructure operations, safety, maintenance, protection and resiliency are so closely intertwined in today’s world that they must all be part of any investment strategy if it is to be cost-effective and long-lasting.

The TISP strategy utilizes public- and private-sector collaboration to address broad issues including: creating institutional agreements to achieve safety, security and operational benefits; modernizing aging infrastructure; ensuring security is considered and built into the design of new infrastructure; working to create a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank; and facilitating coordination among state, local and federal governments and the private sector to improve emergency response, advance evacuation plan guidelines, ensure prompt federal assistance to emergency zones, and increase medical surge capacity.

The 2009-2014 Strategic Plan outlines thematic goals and prominent objectives the TISP Board of Director and staff will pursue to execute our responsibilities regulated by our mission and vision. The TISP Strategic Plan will be reviewed annually by the Board of Directors to ensure that it remains relevant to TISP members and industry. Strategies have been developed to ensure progress toward achieving goals and objectives.

Provide leadership in infrastructure resilience
Resiliency, as it relates to community expectations of the nation’s infrastructure and resources, is confidence in availability, continuous operations and efficient restoration of operations when disrupted. TISP formed an action team of not-for-profit organizations, contractors and government agencies to begin drafting a working definition of “infrastructure resilience” and related terms. This project will help create a common set of terms applicable to all sectors and supportive of cross-sector collaboration.

TISP will improve its unique position as the national leader in infrastructure resiliency and disaster recovery by facilitating dialogue on infrastructure security and resiliency, including offering technical support and resources for education on public policy related to the security and resiliency of the nation’s built environment. It will also develop programs and resources to sustain TISP as an authority for infrastructure resilience; assisting federal, state, regional and local agencies and owners and operators of private-sector infrastructure in carrying out their missions in support of the National Security Strategy and the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. Finally, it will launch a collaborative communication and marketing network to raise awareness of the importance of and efforts aimed at achieving national and regional disaster resilience for critical infrastructure.

Serve as a clearinghouse for knowledge, skills and education
Working with stakeholders, TISP will create a knowledge management center to collect, share, organize and promote knowledge on critical infrastructure resilience and disaster preparedness. Additionally, TISP will develop a peer-mentoring and resource database. Experts needing information about specific policies, technical devises, research results, or program activities may use the peer-mentoring program to achieve their needs and grow as knowledgeable experts. A resource database will include profiles, lists of available services and resources and 24-hour points of contracts for homeland security and emergency response practitioners.

Contribute to benchmarking and development of performance measures
TISP will develop partnerships with standard-setting organizations to support the setting of performance measures, the development of industry standards and benchmarks for homeland security, the promotion of guidelines and the implementation of training programs. TISP will work within its partnerships to develop a performance assessment network for sharing information on tools and practices.

United we stand
Fostering public and private sector coordination and collaboration
TISP pledges to lead collaboration that advances the practice and policies of infrastructure security and resiliency to sustain the nation’s resources. Through the dedication and focus of TISP members, the partnership will remain responsive to the safety and security needs of the nation. The TISP Steering Committee is responsible for the planning and coordination of various mission subcommittees.

The Critical Infrastructure Resilience Committee is a forum for interested public, private, non-profit and other organizations to focus on critical infrastructure resilience and related organizational and regional risk mitigation and management challenges and cost-effective solutions to address them.

State and Local Security and Emergency Management Agencies Committee promotes and enhances nation-wide collaboration on strategies, policies, exercises, and interagency programs addressing private and public sector infrastructure security and resilience at the state and local levels.

Certification, Academic, Research, and Education Programs Committee brings together academic and research institutions to collaborate and share information on reach, technology development, and education and training programs related to making infrastructure and resources more secure and resilient. The group helps to identify and fill gaps in education, training, and technology transfer programs, inform members of professional development and certification programs, promote research and development activities, and serve as a resource and advisor to homeland security agencies.

Engineering, Construction, and Architecture Committee brings together leaders in the design, construction, and management of commercial, federal, and military facilities to collaborate on the implementation of safety and security measures, to facilitate discussion of safety and security standards harmonization, and collaborate on security design criteria for new construction and modernization projects.

Communications and Networking Partnerships Committee serves to expand the knowledge base of critical infrastructure resilience through cultivating information-sharing relationships between our partner associations, agencies, and companies tasked with providing support to the homeland security initiative.

TISP Membership and Awards Committee greets new members and sponsors with valuable information as to how to earn full benefit of membership and administers the presentations of the annual TISP Public and Private Sector Awards for Service.