CISA Releases the Infrastructure Dependency Primer – An Online Educational Resource

By Aimee Andres | November 22, 2021

 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released the Infrastructure Dependency Primer (IDP) to help state, local, tribal, and territorial planners better understand how infrastructure systems depend on one another to operate, how those dependencies impact community risk and resilience, and how to incorporate that understanding into planning.  The IDP is a supplement to CISA’s recently published Infrastructure Resilience Planning Framework (IRPF) and aims to answer fundamental questions planners and decisionmakers may have, including:

  • What are infrastructure dependencies and why should I care?
  • What is resilience, how does it relate to dependencies, and how do I plan for it?
  • What resources are there to help me reduce dependency risks and enhance the resilience of my community?

The IDP has three main sections—Learn, Plan, and Implement—which provide basic instruction on pertinent topics:

  • LEARN: Essential community functions, enabling infrastructure systems, and infrastructure dependencies
  • PLAN: Resilience, the role of infrastructure stakeholders in planning processes, and methods for incorporating dependencies into planning
  • IMPLEMENT: Actions for improving resilience, case study examples, and available resources

This online educational resource is publicly accessible and meant to be independently explored by users based on their interests and needs.  No prerequisite training or knowledge is needed to benefit from IDP content.  While it is recommended that content be reviewed in the order it is presented, all sections can be referenced separately or adapted for a group learning session.

For questions, please contact the Infrastructure Development and Recovery Program at IDR@cisa.dhs.gov.  To learn more, please visit CISA.gov/idr-program.

Steve Lyddon

Protective Security Advisor, Region 5, Illinois
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Cell:  217-299-3954 | steven.lyddon@cisa.dhs.gov

Posted in CISA/DHS News