This week, the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) held its Quarterly Business Meeting. They were welcomed by White House Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall. Following their examination of cross-cutting critical infrastructure policy challenges, members discussed and adopted a forthcoming report to the President that identifies barriers to collaboration between critical infrastructure sectors on matters of security and resilience, and made several recommendations to address them. Among the recommendations, the report identifies the need for outcome-based goals and mandatory standards governing the security and resilience of critical infrastructure assets. Additionally, recognizing that failures to critical infrastructure disproportionately impact our nation’s most vulnerable populations, the NIAC recommended deliberately including these vulnerable communities in planning and recovery. Members also highlighted the need for targeted drills and exercises to improve incident response across interdependent infrastructure sectors and supply chains. The NIAC is currently comprised of 25 executive leaders from the private sector and state, local, and tribal governments who advise the President on how to reduce physical and cyber risks and improve the security and resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure.
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