Defending the critical infrastructure of the United States is no small task to be sure. Our nation’s competitiveness is heavily dependent on this infrastructure; and therefore, so is our prosperity. So there is allot at stake. Our nation’s critical infrastructure is aged, highly distributed, very complex and the sheer number of organizations vendor/suppliers/operators involved in it is huge and in serious need of updating.
Every four years the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) releases a report card for America’s infrastructure. The last one was issued in 2013, and (link http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/a/#p/home) Tto say it was ugly is an understatement. It should be noted that our power and communication infrastructure is not included in this assessment. However, there are negative implications in those two areas that must be considered. Looking across the 16 areas examined, The grade point average (GPA) was D+ for the 16 areas examined. No area received an A and only one area that got a B (OK, a B-) and that was our infrastructure for solid waste. The other 15 areas were Cs and Ds — and scorecard doesn’t include power and communication.
What would happen if you got a D+ GPA on your latest job performance review? You wWould you probably be counselled out, put on a performance improvement plan or just fired? Time has run out and sSome experts have even come out and called the country’s critical infrastructure “beyond repair” with an estimated cost of more than over $3 trillion.
NOTE: In 2017 the next critical infrastructure report card will come out. One has to wonder what that will look like!
However, a unique opportunity is at hand that has created an opportunity to make giant strides in infrastructure operations and integrity. operational aspects and integrity aspects. Smart cities and smart infrastructures are aggressively growing around the world, and while they are not what anyone would call a mature offering, they are stable and fairly beneficial. The need for the United States to update its aging/declining/broken infrastructure creates a unique opportunity to The U.S. could strategically move to a smart infrastructure strategy and solidify the country’s competitiveness for decades to come. If that happens, however, cybersecurity must not be an option. It must be designed in from the start. There is no doubt that the digitally controlled smart infrastructure would immediately become a target of cyberattacks. National security demands we build cyber security in now!
Note: It should be noted that the United States is #3 in terms of global competitiveness according to the World Economic Forum. (http://www3.weforum.org/docs/gcr/2015-2016/Global_Competitiveness_Report_2015-2016.pdf)
