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Abstract There is a growing understanding that cross‐sector risks faced by critical infrastructure assets in natural disasters require a collaborative foresight from multiple disciplines. However, current contributions to infrastructure interdependency analysis remain centered in discipline‐specific methodologies often constrained by underlying theories and assumptions. This perspective article contributes to ongoing discussions about the uses, challenges, and opportunities provided by interdisciplinary research in critical infrastructure interdependency analysis. In doing so, several modes of integration of computational modeling with contributions from the social sciences and other disciplines are explored to advance knowledge that can improve the infrastructure system resilience under extreme events. Three basic modes of method integration are identified and discussed: (a) integrating engineering models and social science research, (b) engaging communities in participative and collaborative forms of social learning and problem solving using simulation models to facilitate synthesis, exploration, and evaluation of scenarios, and (c) developing interactive simulations where IT systems and humans act as “peers” leveraging the capacity of distributed networked platforms and human‐in‐the‐loop architectures for improving situational awareness, real‐time decision making, and response capabilities in natural disasters. Depending on the conceptualization of the issues under investigation, these broadly defined modes of integration can coalesce to address key issues in promoting interdisciplinary research by outlining potential areas of future inquiry that would be most beneficial to the critical infrastructure protection communities.
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Critical Time, Space, and Decision‐Making Agent Considerations in Human‐Centered Interdisciplinary Hurricane‐Related Research
Abstract In hazard and disaster contexts, human‐centered approaches are promising for interdisciplinary research since humans and communities feature prominently in many definitions of disaster and the built environment is designed and constructed by humans to serve their needs. With a human‐centered approach, the decision‐making agent becomes a critical consideration. This article discusses and illustrates the need for alignment of decision‐making agents, time, and space for interdisciplinary research on hurricanes, particularly evacuation and the immediate aftermath. We specifically consider the fields of sociobehavioral science, transportation engineering, power systems engineering, and decision support systems in this context. These disciplines have historically adopted different decision‐making agents, ranging from individuals to households to utilities and government agencies. The fields largely converged to the local level for studies’ spatial scales, with some extensions based on the physical construction and operation of some systems. Greater discrepancy across the fields is found in the frequency of data collection, which ranges from one time (e.g., surveys) to continuous monitoring systems (e.g., sensors). Resolving these differences is important for the success of interdisciplinary teams in protective‐action‐related disaster research.
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- PAR ID:
- 10448957
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Risk Analysis
- Volume:
- 41
- Issue:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 0272-4332
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 1218-1226
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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