Infrastructure Systems Overview

Principles

Definition

Infrastructure systems is an academic concept investigating the complex, interconnected networks of physical assets and organizational structures required for essential societal functions (such as transport, energy, and water), focusing on their planning, design, operation, resilience, sustainability, and policy implications from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Ontological type

Resilience Analysis

Core Components

Modeling Methods

Key developments

Key Figures

Cascading Failure Modeling era

William A. Wallace[1], affiliated with École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne[3] and University of Delaware[4], helped advance quantitative resilience assessment during the Cascading Failure Modeling era. His key contributions include A Framework to Quantitatively Assess and Enhance the Seismic Resilience of Communities[7] and Restoration of Services in Interdependent Infrastructure Systems: A Network Flows Approach[8], which provided measurable resilience and restoration guidance for this era. Stephanie E. Chang[2], affiliated with University of Washington[5] and University of California, Irvine[6], contributed to advancing understanding of infrastructure failure processes in this era. Her contributions span the seismic resilience framework[7], the Empirical Framework for Characterizing Infrastructure Failure Interdependencies[9], and Linking Infrastructure and Urban Economy: Simulation of Water-Disruption Impacts in Earthquakes[10], advancing quantitative modeling of interdependencies and resilience strategies.

System-of-Systems Resilience era

Leonardo Dueñas‐Osorio [1], affiliated with Rice University [3] and Texas A&M University [4], is a leading figure in infrastructure resilience and interdependent urban systems during the System-of-Systems Resilience era. His key contributions include a three-stage resilience analysis framework for urban infrastructure systems [6], an approach to design interface topologies across interdependent urban infrastructure systems [7], and Interface Network Models for Complex Urban Infrastructure Systems [8], which advanced cross-domain resilience assessment and informed investment and governance in interconnected energy, water, and transport networks. Min Ouyang [2], affiliated with Rice University [3] and Huazhong University of Science and Technology [5], has advanced resilience analysis and interdependent infrastructure modeling during the era. His contributions include the three-stage resilience analysis framework [6], the approach to design interface topologies across interdependent urban infrastructure systems [7], and Efficient Approach to Compute Generalized Interdependent Effects between Infrastructure Systems [9], collectively enabling scalable cross-domain assessment of cascading failures and informing resilience investment decisions.

Digital-Enabled Systemic Resilience era

Dmitry Ivanov [1], associated with the University of Padua [3] and Universität Hamburg [4], stands as a notable figure in the Digital-Enabled Systemic Resilience era. His key contribution is the paper Reconfigurable supply chain: the X-network [7], which proposes a flexible network topology to reconfigure supply chains and sustain essential flows during disruptions, a pivotal advance for digital twins and flow-based restoration planning in this era. Boris Sokolov [2], affiliated with ITMO University [5] and the Saint Petersburg State University of Aerospace and Instrumentation [6], co-authored Reconfigurable supply chain: the X-network [7], helping to generalize reconfigurable supply chain concepts across institutions. These contributions through the X-network [7] advance rapid restoration sequencing, flow-based planning, and multi-criteria resilience assessment, underpinning governance and stakeholder-oriented decision-making under climate uncertainty in digital-enabled systemic resilience.