Title: Disaster risk management for critical infrastructure: a services-based viewpoint

Authors: Christopher W. Zobel, James R. Martin II, C. Guney Olgun

Addresses: Department of Business Information Technology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0235, USA. ' Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0105, USA. ' Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0105, USA

Abstract: It is necessary to protect critical infrastructure and key resources from the effects of a disaster in order to maintain continuity of both public services and private enterprise. Since many of the critical resources are themselves privately owned and operated, however, they are often subject to the same market pressures that force businesses to concentrate on improving the efficiency of their operations at the possible expense of guarding against potential disruptions to those operations. Under these circumstances, the process of designing an effective (and acceptable) disaster mitigation plan for critical infrastructure resources requires a shared understanding of both the business aspects and the technical aspects of different mitigation alternatives. This paper examines the decision-making process behind such disaster mitigation planning from a services standpoint and discusses how taking such a viewpoint can provide a more effective approach to sustainable disaster risk reduction.

Keywords: decision making; disaster risk management; operations management; critical infrastructures; private ownership; services; key resources; disaster mitigation; sustainability; emergency management; disaster planning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSCI.2009.024940

International Journal of Services Sciences, 2009 Vol.2 No.2, pp.189 - 205

Published online: 04 May 2009 *

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