Systemic Infrastructure Resilience to Strategic Challenges
All aspects of a Nation’s economy are enabled either directly or indirectly by National infrastructure. National Infrastructure with low systemic resilience is susceptible to disruption with greater frequency, on a larger scale, with higher intensity and for longer durations than its more resilient counterpart.
Therefore, any Nation enabled by National Infrastructure with low resilience: jeopardises the short-term realisation of all national strategic objectives; and risks initiating a long-term downward spiral in which the cumulative impacts of repeat disruptions to the National Infrastructure undermine quality of life, reduce productivity and GDP, damage industry and investor confidence, impair tax revenues, undermine international competitiveness, and channel national investment away from long term priorities into short term responsive expenditure.
The aim of this subtheme is to build upon key themes raised by Lord Toby Harris’s Key Note Address to the Symposium. It is envisaged these will include discussion of strategic questions such as:
- What are the strategic challenges (hazards, events or trend capable of initiating cascade, escalating and/or or common cause failures) for which National Preparedness is most needed?
- What types of disruptive impact do we most need to prepare for?
- How will these disruptive impacts arising from strategic challenges impact National Infrastructure?
- How does Disruption to National Infrastructure impact wider society and the economy?
- Systemic Leverage Points: Where in the system are, and what types of, preparedness interventions are most effectively targetted
- What Role can National Infrastructure play to support National preparedness for strategic challenges
