Workshop: Robust and Reliable Infrastructure Networks: Identifying Research Priorities; Iowa State University, Fall 2006

Iowa State University, Ames IA

Investigators

Abstract

This award funds a workshop to be held at Iowa State University in the Fall of 2006. Systems of critical infrastructure are to a greater or lesser extent, interdependent - relying upon each other for various vital "services". Taken together, the networks of interdependent infrastructure systems are highly complex meta-systems that provide a wide range of services critical to human welfare and the functioning of modern society. Unexpected or unintended interactions between infrastructure systems can have profound long-term impacts on the natural environment, human health, and economic activity. The interdependence among infrastructure systems, economic activity and the "carrying capacity" of the biosphere places infrastructure in a central, but often under appreciated, role in sustainable development. This workshop is aimed at identifying research priorities related to the design of robust, reliable and sustainable networks of infrastructure, including social and environmental infrastructure. The central task of the proposed project is organizing and hosting a two-day interdisciplinary workshop. The workshop will bring together experts on a range of infrastructure systems, such as transportation, power, water, information, agriculture, and natural resources, supporting fields such as ecological economics, reliability and systems theory. Comprehensive workshop proceedings will be published electronically and widely distributed. Drawing on the existing literature and the output of the interdisciplinary planning workshop, this project will develop an interdisciplinary research agenda that supports a broad vision of interdependent infrastructure systems and addresses the challenging problems therein.