A Framework for critical infrastructure management with the focus on disasters : case study approach

Abstract

The significance of Critical Infrastructure and the important focus to enhance their level of resilience capacity is defined by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction developed for 2015-2030. Furthermore, Goal 9 defined by the Sustainable Development Goals calls for creating resilient infrastructure and enhancing their capacity level. Accordingly, the resilience enhancement of the Critical Infrastructure can be delivered by elements of Multi-Hazard Early Warning, which is a strategical concept of Disaster Risk Reduction mechanism. This strategical integration to resilience enhancement can be more effective with the novel technological implementation of Early Warning dissemination. In the research study, main concern is towards development of a strategical resilience assessment framework for Critical Infrastructure management in Sri Lanka. Along the focused research scope, the Transportation Infrastructure sector was focused on framework development. Transportation sector has a wide concern in which their performance on operation depends highly on the level of capability of adapting and recovering from a disaster incident. From the global level developed frameworks, the Australian Critical Infrastructure Resilience Strategy was identified as the basis for the resilience framework development. Based on this framework the integration of community, organizational and technical infrastructure resilience aspects were identified as the key basis. From the initial literature review, the parameter identification was undertaken and initial parameter selection was undertaken. Here, the community resilience aspects were determined through field survey in which overall 393 responses were collected. The organizational resilience aspects were determined through telephone interviewing in which 1004 responses were collected. The technical infrastructure resilience aspects were determined using field studies and focus group meetings. The identified parameter from the literature review and the initial literature survey was categorized and filtered under the expert opinion survey. For the quantification of the resilience capacity, the quantification of each of indicator aspects were considered. Here, the Analytical Hierarchical Process was applied to capture the weights for the each identified parameter through expertise determination. Through this, the relationships among each variable aspects were considered for the determination of resilience level. With this, the applicability was determined using a case study in Amaragedara South Grama Niladari division in Bulathsinhala Divisional Secretariat division. The key summary output of the framework implication in regional level aspects can be incorporated into the planning stage of the Disaster Management system in the country.