Background and objectives of the research project

How do operators of critical infrastructures, authorities and relief organizations act in an emergency and how can the interaction in disaster management be improved? Critical infrastructures must be enabled to react adequately to emergencies and, as a consequence, to maintain their function to a large extent and not pose a threat to society. Therefore, the aim of the project is to develop methods to determine and increase the adaptability of protection systems and methods for impact assessment for critical infrastructures.

Mutability of systems

Adaptability is the ability of a system to adapt itself efficiently and quickly to changing requirements. In order to investigate the adaptability of Critical Infrastructures, certain indicators from the context of enterprise architectures are transferred to disaster management concepts. The necessary indicators are elicited and operationalized in the respective application context so that an image for the adaptability of the application domain can be generated. Examples of indicators include: (1) scalability, (2) modularity, or (3) availability. The (1) scalability of a system is determined by its capacity characteristics. Here, it is advantageous if necessary resources can be added and removed as automatically as possible. (2) Modularity concerns system elements such as buildings, resources, forces and information systems. Modules are understood as independently acting units or elements that ensure a high degree of interchangeability and compatibility among each other. (3) Availability comprises the temporally and spatially independent access to the functions of the system under consideration.

Impact Assessment for Critical Infrastructures

The development of a procedure for integrated disaster impact assessment and protection concept impact assessment forms the second project focus. Exemplary procedures for an application of impact assessment are technology impact assessment and regulatory impact assessment.

Practical testing of the designed procedure model

In close cooperation with the project partners and with the involvement of experts from the disaster control authorities and relief organizations, the previously designed procedure model for impact assessment as well as the developed method for the analysis of transformability will be applied and tested with regard to their applicability. Consideration is always given to the preservation of context-independent transferability through cross-cutting problems.

Project partners, funding and data

The EU-funded research project EUKRITIS is carried out by the Chair of Information Systems at the University of Potsdam in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior of the State of Brandenburg as consortium leader and other practical partners. Project partners: BASF Schwarzheide GmbH, West Pomeranian State Fire Brigade (Poland)
Duration: 2008 - 2009

Outlook: EUKRITIS II

The EUKRITIS project has made it clear that efficient and sustainable protection of critical infrastructures requires close networking of administration, industry, private organizations and science at all levels. This closer cooperation is the focus of the follow-up project EUKRITIS II, which aims to develop a virtual network (information and communication portal) for infrastructure protection.