The U.S. Department of Homeland Security today released a national plan to guide research activities across all critical infrastructure sectors, which provide the essential products and services that support safety, prosperity, and well-being in the U.S.
The National Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Research and Development (CISR R&D) Plan (.pdf) identifies priority areas that inform R&D investments, promote innovation, and guide research activities across the critical infrastructure community.
The critical infrastructure community includes public and private critical infrastructure owners and operators; Federal departments and agencies, including SSAs; State, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments and regional entities; and other organizations from the private and nonprofit sectors, including research and educational institutions and, in some cases, international partners and organizations.
The plan was developed through a collaborative process involving public and private stakeholders from across the aforementioned critical infrastructure community, and will:
- Develop the foundational understanding of critical infrastructure systems and systems dynamics.
- Develop integrated and scalable risk assessment and management approaches.
- Develop integrated and proactive capabilities, technologies, and methods to support secure and resilient infrastructure.
- Harness the power of data sciences to create unified, integrated situational awareness and to understand consequences of action.
- Build a crosscutting culture of CISR R&D collaboration.
Critical infrastructure owners and operators are uniquely positioned to manage risks to their individual operations and assets and to determine effective strategies to make them more secure and resilient.” Focused and integrated R&D programs developed through public-private collaboration will drive the discovery and innovation necessary to strengthen the security and resilience of the Nation’s critical infrastructure into the future.
Source: DHS, adapted.