Disaster Risk Reduction Program

Quick Links to DRR DRR Mission Staff Areas of Concentration Projects Current Initiatives News DRR Affiliated Faculty Partner Institutions Library and Links Contact

National Capital Region - Regional Infrastructure Protection Plan

George Mason University (GMU)
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Duration: 2003-2005

The Critical Infrastructure Protection Program at George Mason University along with the Center has formed a consortium of six universities to prepare the framework for a Regional Infrastructure Protection Plan. The envisioned Plan is a robust and dynamic set of activities with the goal of fostering a more secure, more resilient region. This Regional Plan will build upon existing regional preparedness capabilities, and is meant not to supplant, but to augment private, local, state and federal security and emergency management plans and programs.

The initial scope of the Plan includes eight critical infrastructures – emergency services, water, energy, health services, telecommunications, banking and finance, transportation, and postal and shipping. The intent is to later expand the scope to cover other critical infrastructures and organizations. The Plan has two overarching objectives:

1. To assist owners and operators of critical infrastructures to achieve the highest
level of cost-effective security. The Consortium is currently addressing protection in each of the eight infrastructures in the region to identify needs and options for tools, incentives and governance to assist infrastructure owners and operators to make the required decisions and investments to secure their assets and systems.

2. To assist regional decision-makers to identify and assess vulnerabilities due to interdependencies among critical infrastructures and develop cost-effective mitigation options. The Consortium’s goal is to advance critical infrastructure security beyond the asset or system level, to the regional level. To do this, the Consortium will: (1) specify metrics and analytical models to assess vulnerabilities due to interdependencies (and associated benefits and costs); (2) work with regional stakeholders to develop and conduct table-top exercises to increase awareness of interdependencies and to foster communications among sectors; and (3) assist in the development of planning, decision-making, and coordination mechanisms for regional use by the public, private and non-profit sectors.

The completed report can now be found online at: cipp.gmu.edu/ncrproject/index.php.