The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced on Nov. 22 the release of a new update on the agency’s Infrastructure Resilience Planning Framework (IRPF) which helps state, local, tribal, and territorial planners protect technological infrastructure.
The first version of the IRPF was released last year as a tool to help local planners with incorporating infrastructure resilience into planning activities. The new update focuses in particular on helping communities become better equipped to face an evolving threat environment.
“Our safety and security depend on the ability of critical infrastructure to prepare for and adapt to changing conditions and to withstand and recover rapidly from disruptions,” stated Dr. David Mussington, CISA’s Executive Assistant Director for Infrastructure Security.
“The updates to the IRPF will help planners better understand how to approach future threats and hazards so they can be prepared to meet and recover from an incident,” he said. “Our collaborative approach with industry and interagency partners enabled CISA to improve the IRPF, which will help the SLTT planning community reduce risks and strengthen resilience.”
CISA said the updated guidance features:
- A new tool for identifying critical infrastructure in the form of the Datasets for Critical Infrastructure Identification guide. This dataset provides users with guidance on how and where to find publicly accessible geospatial information system (GIS) on critical infrastructure assets via the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD) site, as well as several other GIS sites;
- Guidance on the challenges of getting a diverse set of opinions when planning. CISA aid it can be challenging to get all the right stakeholders together and ensure that a diverse range of opinions and interests are considered, and the IRPF 1.1 expands on the process of gathering stakeholders;
- New drought resilience information via CISA’s National Drought Resilience Partnership. This includes a new guide that provides an overview of the drought hazard, examples of direct and indirect impacts it can have on infrastructure systems, and Federal resources for assessing and mitigating drought risk; and
- Revised resilience concepts that incorporate CISA’s Methodology for Assessing Regional Infrastructure Resilience. It provides additional detail on analytic methods that planners can use to improve their understanding of infrastructure systems in their community.
