Support for a Workshop Titled Toward Sustainable Critical Infrastructure Systems

美国国家科学院正在为一个名为“迈向可持续关键基础设施系统”的研讨会请求支持。确定的关键基础设施系统包括电力、运输、供水、废物管理和电信系统。讲习班将由工程和物理科学司基础设施和人造环境委员会任命的一个特设多学科专家委员会规划和组织。委员会成员将来自政府、工业界和学术界，他们将在电力、交通、供水、废物管理和电信基础设施的发展和管理方面具有专门知识；土地利用;基础设施融资;经济学;决策科学;公众参与;材料;技术;还有环境工程。知识价值：上一次由国会发起的对国家关键基础设施系统状况的评估是在1988年结束的，当时发表了《脆弱的基础：美国公共工程报告》。该报告发现“令人信服的证据表明，美国基础设施的质量仅足以满足当前的要求，不足以满足未来经济增长和发展的需求”（第1页）。自1988年以来发生了重大变化。电信基础设施已成为银行和金融等行业的支柱。监控和数据采集（SCADA）系统现在对水电站等其他基础设施的控制和运行至关重要。对电力系统的放松管制导致了过剩产能的减少，而此时计算机和新的人口中心对电力的需求正在增加。恶意行为和自然灾害使人们的注意力集中在基础设施在支持人身安全、政府和商业运作的连续性以及生活质量方面的作用上。监测基础设施状况和维持性能的技术也取得了重大进展；建造和更新基础设施部件的材料；在发展筹资机制方面；风险评估方法；对基础设施恶化或失效的后果进行建模和模拟；以及我们对不同系统相互依赖关系的理解。由于所有这些原因，重新审视横切基础设施的挑战是合适的。更广泛的影响：提议的研讨会旨在作为多年努力制定改善和维持国家关键基础设施的研究议程的第一步。研讨会本身将汇集来自广泛学科的专家。将努力确保专家代表种族、代表性不足的少数民族、地理区域、政府、工业界和学术界的各个方面。为期2.5天的研讨会将邀请演讲和讨论。将以讲习班为基础发表一份报告，作为该项目的主要数据收集活动。该报告将总结特设委员会对讲习班所发生情况的评估，包括委员会对创建和维持可持续基础设施系统的挑战和潜在调查/研究路线的一致意见。研讨会报告将分发给专业组织、大学、政府官员和其他人士，以促进对制定国家研究议程的更大兴趣。关键基础设施系统。一个为期1.5天的规划会议和一个为期2.5天的讲习班的估计费用为126 000美元，其中5万美元要求国家科学基金会提供。平衡的承诺

The National Academies is requesting support for a workshop titled Support for a Workshop Titled Toward Sustainable Critical Infrastructure Systems. The identified critical infrastructure systems include power, transportation, water supply, waste management, and telecommunications systems The workshop will be planned and organized by an ad hoc, multidisciplinary committee of experts appointed by the Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE) of the Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences. The committee members will be drawn from government, industry, and academia and will have expertise in the development and management of power, transportation, water supply, waste management, and telecommunications infrastructure; land use; infrastructure finance; economics; decision sciences; public participation; materials; technologies; and environmental engineering. Intellectual Merit: The last Congressionally-initiated review of the condition of the nation's critical infrastructure systems concluded in 1988, with the publication of "Fragile Foundations: A Report on America's Public Works". The report found "convincing evidence that the quality of America's infrastructure is barely adequate to fulfill current requirements and insufficient to meet the demands of future economic growth and development" (p. 1). Significant changes have occurred since 1988. Telecommunications infrastructure has become the backbone of banking and finance and other industries. Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are now critical to the control and operation of other infrastructures such as hydropower plants. The deregulation of electrical power systems has led to the shedding of excess capacity at a time when the demand for electricity to power computers and new population centers is increasing. Malicious acts and natural disasters have focused attention on the role of infrastructure in supporting physical security, continuity of government and business operations, and quality of life. Significant advances have also occurred in technologies to monitor infrastructure condition and maintain performance; in materials for constructing and renewing infrastructure components; in the development of funding mechanisms; risk assessment methodologies; modeling and simulating the consequences of deteriorating or failed infrastructure; and in our understanding of the interdependencies of various systems. For all of these reasons, it is appropriate to take a fresh look at cross-cutting infrastructure challenges.Broader Impacts: The proposed workshop is intended as a first step in a multi-year effort to develop a research agenda for the improving and sustaining the nation's critical infrastructure. The workshop itself will bring together experts from a wide range of disciplines. Efforts will be made to ensure the experts represent a cross section of race, underrepresented minorities, geographic areas, government, industry and academia. The 2.5-day workshop will feature invited presentations and discussions. A report will be issued based on the workshop as the principal data-gathering event in the project. The report will summarize the ad hoc committee's assessment of what transpired at the workshop, including the consensus views of the committee on the challenges and potential lines of inquiry/research for creating and maintaining sustainable infrastructure systems. The workshop report will be distributed to professional organizations, universities, public officials, and others to promote greater interest in developing a research agenda for the nation?s critical infrastructure systems.The estimated cost of a 1.5-day planning meeting and a 2.5-day workshop, is $126,000 of which $50,000 is requested from the National Science Foundation. Commitments for the balanc