DYNA JOURNAL ENGINEERING

Key words:

Gestión de crisis, evaluación de impactos, infraestructura crítica, interdependencias, dependencias, Crisis management, impact evaluation, critical infrastructure, interdependencies, dependencies

Article type:

ARTICULO DE INVESTIGACION / RESEARCH ARTICLE

Section:

RESEARCH ARTICLES

ABSTRACT:
The dependency of society on the proper functioning of critical infrastructures (CIs) has been highlighted in recent natural disasters. CIs set up complex and interconnected systems and consequently a failure in one CI can spread to other dependent sectors. This represents a further complication in the response phase of a crisis, increasing the impact of natural disasters and seriously affecting the welfare of society.
The aim of this paper is to illustrate the important role that CIs have on the propagation of the impact of a crisis. For that reason, a simulation model that represents the propagation, among interdependent CIs, of the effects of a storm on a region has been developed. This simulation model has a pedagogical purpose in which the effects of applying different crisis management policies can be simulated. This type of simulation models can represent different crisis scenarios. Therefore, simulation models can be used by managers allowing them to identify good practices and areas of improvement in face of future events.
Keywords: Crisis management, impact evaluation, critical infrastructure, interdependencies, dependencies.