Toward self-healing infrastructure systems

The Internet, computer networks, and the digital economy have increased the demand for reliable and disturbance-free electricity. Banking and finance depend on the robustness of electric power, cable, and wireless telecommunications. Links between the power grid and telecommunications and between electrical power and oil, water, and gas pipelines continue to be a linchpin of energy supply networks. This strong interdependence means that an action in one part of one infrastructure network can rapidly create global effects by cascading throughout the same network or into other networks. The author explains how the Complex Interactive Network/Systems Initiative (CIN/SI), a joint industry-government initiative, is developing a mathematical basis and practical tools for improving the security, performance, reliability, and robustness of energy, financial, telecommunications, and transportation networks. One challenge is to develop appropriate models for this degree of complexity and create tools that let components adaptively reconfigure the network as needed.