Infrastructural Inter-Connectivity Essay

Any country with aspirations of excelling cannot discount the importance of infrastructure. This is because it contributes, whether directly or indirectly, to economic growth. Infrastructure, in essence, is the systems of structures and facilities that are vital for the operation of an entity, including the government. If these structures are not adequately put in place, the development rate will ultimately slow down. Over the years, these structures have become increasingly interconnected to each other. Such connectedness has ultimately led to improved services. However, with increased connectivity, there come heightened chances of infrastructural vulnerability. This may range from malicious cyber-attacks to detrimental effects the failure of one infrastructural sector will have on other industries. This essay will discuss the examples of infrastructural connectedness, models of management practice that can be applied to ensure adequate Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) and conclude by examining how critical infrastructures in Wisconsin have been protected.

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Interconnectivity of infrastructure is the bidirectional relationship between two or more infrastructures. The reciprocal connection between these facilities increases efficiency between the linked facilities. In this nation, there are numerous instances of infrastructural interconnectivity. For example, the telecommunication industry is well linked to the electricity providing companies. Telecommunication amenities rely on electricity to power the devices used in communication. Simultaneously, electricity companies rely on communication to monitor and control the electric system. As a result, there is interconnectivity between these two facilities. Likewise, transportation will be highly impaired when natural gas and petroleum products are not available. A major reason is that automobiles run on fuel products derived from petroleum. Correspondingly, with lack of transportation services and faulty pipeline systems, delivery of these natural products will lessen. Of importance in our current generation is how banking services rely on effective communication for service delivery and vice versa. Banks rely on telecommunication satellites to facilitate the transmission of signals for ATM transactions. On the other hand, banks offer the platform through which payments for these telecommunication devices can be made.

Much as interconnectivity has led to improved service delivery, it has likely led to an increased threat of attacks. In a society of advanced networked computing, most critical infrastructural records and information are stored in computerized systems (Murray and Grubesic, 2007). Consequently, cyber-attacks directed at these infrastructural companies and subsequent retrieval of information will possibly increase the chances of attacks (Xu and Masys, 2016).

To ensure maximum protection of Critical Infrastructures (C.I), a decentralized management model should be applied. Just like in any other organization, decentralization of tasks ensures pooling of expertise for the attainment of mutual interests. The government, which is the major entity tasked with protecting our nation's C.Is, should, accordingly, adopt a Joint-Organization management model. This type of model will involve different stakeholders who will pool their expertise to ensure maximum protection of our critical infrastructures:

• Private Sector
• National Bodies
• Department of Treasury
• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Transport
• Federal and State Agencies
• Department of Energy
• National Government

Through this model, the government will incorporate all the parties and give standard organizational responsibilities to all those involved. Decentralization will divide the workload among various organizations, and each party will be tasked with providing its expertise and focusing on its mandate to ensure our C.Is are safe from attack (Schulman and Roe, 2016). Accordingly, the banking and finance facilities will be supervised by the Department of Treasury. Through this department, banking systems will be protected through the advocating for policies and regulations such as the cyber protection law to curb malicious cyber events. Similarly, the department of energy, on its part, will ensure constant energy supplies, especially to industries and facilities such as airports which require the continuous supply of electricity. Nuclear power plants will also be protected through this department. Our roads, railways, airspace and waterways will be safe under the umbrella of the department of transportation. Moreover, this department will closely work with the communication department to ensure well co-ordination of computer-controlled transportation systems such as the airports. Federal and state agencies can also be incorporated to ensure that essential services offered by the government at the local, federal, and state levels are offered without interruptions. Most of the time, the task to implement vulnerability reduction programs in privately owned infrastructures rests with the private owners. Many a time, nonetheless, these private companies fail to adopt these steps. One of the primary reasons for lack of implementation of vulnerability reduction programs is lack of money. Therefore, the central government should provide monetary incentives to the owners of private infrastructures to ensure the adequate defense of these facilities.

In Green Bay, Wisconsin, there are some critical infrastructures available. Some of these include transportation facilities. The Green Bay-Austin International airport is located in this town. Furthermore, there are numerous roads which provide bus services to the town dwellers. Through the Port of Green Bay, a person can access water transport facilities. Notably, the town is the headquarters of the regional health-care providers, Bellin Health. Moreover, hospitals such as the St. Mary's Hospital Medical Centre and St. Vincent Hospital provide medical services to the people of the town. Numerous banks are located in this town. Some of these financial institutions include the North Shore Bank and the Capital Credit Union.

To protect its C.I across the state, the Wisconsin state has employed the use of Information Technology Disaster Recovery Program (ITDR). The program uses effective IT recovery plan to get ready for, guard and respond to emergencies (Anon, 2018). Furthermore, the program uses planners who focus on understanding consumers' needs and coming up with strategic plans to recover systems as per the consumers' priorities when calamity strikes. ITDR also safeguards vital infrastructure records and ensures that all the shareholders comply with the laid down stringent regulations to ensure maximum security of the state's C.Is.

Conclusion

In conclusion, infrastructural interconnectivity has brought along its fair share of benefits and undesired effects. It is therefore imperative that the country's states and national government at large put in more efforts to protect the currently available critical infrastructures to minimize negative effects of attacks while simultaneously capitalizing on the potential economic benefits of the said facilities.

References

(Anon, 2018). Det.wi.gov. Retrieved 28 March 2018, from https://det.wi.gov/Documents/Cybersecurity%20Strategy%202017.pdf

Murray, A. T., & Grubesic, T. H. (2007). Overview of reliability and vulnerability in critical infrastructure. In Critical infrastructure (pp. 1-8). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Schulman, P., & Roe, E. (2016). Reliability and risk: The challenge of managing interconnected infrastructures. Stanford University Press.

Xu, T., & Masys, A. J. (2016). Critical infrastructure vulnerabilities: embracing a network mindset. In Exploring the Security Landscape: Non-Traditional Security Challenges (pp. 177-193). Springer, Cham.