Interdependent Infrastructures as a Multiteam System: Enhancing Resilience
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 28, Issue 4
Abstract
Infrastructure systems such as water, electricity, gas, and so on are interdependent complex sociotechnical systems. As such, understanding the human or social component of these systems is critical for increasing resilience. Qualitative analyses, including cognitive task analyses conducted with utility systems personnel, suggested that the human or social part of these systems can be modeled as a multiteam system (MTS). The interdependent critical infrastructure systems (ICIs) that we examined were found to have all of the essential features of multiteam systems. Using the National Academy of Sciences resilience framework (plan, absorb, recover, adapt), we applied findings from the MTS literature to generate recommendations, cautions, and suggestions for future research in infrastructure systems design and practice.
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Data Availability Statement
Lists of the organizations contacted, general descriptions of respondents’ roles in those organizations, anonymized summaries of the cognitive task analyses, and lists of the supplementary materials examined are available upon reasonable request. Specific identities and identifying information of the respondents and the audio recordings of the CTA interviews (which contain proprietary information) are confidential and are not available.
Acknowledgments
This study is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the award #1638321. Any opinions, findings and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Our sincere thanks to the Charleston Water System and to South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) for their cooperation and support.
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Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 28 • Issue 4 • December 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 2, 2021
Accepted: May 16, 2022
Published online: Jul 21, 2022
Published in print: Dec 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Dec 21, 2022
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