A platform for risk analysis, interdependency management and public decision-making support
Providing the country with a tool to support institutions and operators of essential services in assessing risk and developing resilience strategies in response to events of natural or human origin — including, for example, terrorist attacks — that affect critical infrastructure and the provision of essential services. This is the aim of the new platform called CI-RES, developed by ENEA, which makes it possible to analyse vulnerabilities, hazards, risks, potential impacts and “cascading” effects between different systems.
“With the CER Directive, the European Union has broadened the focus from the physical protection of infrastructure to the overall resilience of critical entities, meaning the public or private organisations that provide an essential service, including through physical infrastructure,” explains Stefano Pizzuti, head of ENEA’s Division for Tools and Services for Critical Infrastructure and Renewable Energy Communities within the Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources (TERIN). “In this context,” he adds, “CI-RES can make a fundamental contribution to the national strategy for the resilience of critical entities, and provide concrete support to institutions and operators, in line with Legislative Decree No. 134 of 4 September 2024.”
Based on a web interface, this new technological tool is capable of managing geospatial data, connecting remote services and making available geometric and geographical data, metadata, hazard maps and dashboards containing territorial, statistical and census information.
On a map, it is possible to observe which natural hazards may affect infrastructure, assess risk and, in the case of a specific event, estimate its impact on the infrastructure itself and on the services provided. This approach can also be used to support further analyses that take into account so-called “cascading effects”: a failure in one infrastructure system, such as the electricity grid, can have repercussions on numerous other systems — transport, banking and finance, industry and others — because they are mutually dependent.
“CI-RES will also support critical entities in defining the stress tests required to assess resilience under legal obligations,” Pizzuti comments.
The new EU regulatory approach is oriented towards resilience — a theme also central to the latest Venice Biennale in relation to adaptation — in response to events of natural or human origin that affect the “physical” dimension of infrastructure. At the same time, it pays greater attention to the “entities” responsible for providing essential services. The legislation also identifies a series of strategic sectors on which resilience-building action is focused.
“In a country exposed to multiple natural hazards and hybrid threats, having advanced tools is a priority for strengthening the resilience of critical entities,” explains Maurizio Pollino, head of the ENEA Laboratory for Analysis and Models for Critical Infrastructure and Essential Services within TERIN. “With the CI-RES platform,” he concludes, “we are able to take into account the mutual interaction between infrastructure and territory, so as to assess hazards and risks, define strategies to increase resilience, and at the same time ensure the safety of citizens and territories.”
Cover image: ©AdobeStock
