Networked reliability. Institutional fragmentation and the reliability of service provision in critical infrastructures

Abstract

Critical Infrastructures are the arteries and veins of Western, urbanized societies. The services and products provided by these large-scale, complex systems are considered essential. However, in recent years, more and more new problems seem to crop op after these infrastructures were opened up to market forces. What has happened in these critical infrastructures that we have come to depend upon? How did restructuring affect the reliability of their services? This study takes the reader beyond the debate between states and markets and focuses on the daily control and management of critical infrastructures - the world of control rooms. How has restructuring influenced the ability of those who operate these critical infrastructures to provide reliable services? And how do they cope with the effects of restructuring? Networked reliability presents first-hand accounts from electricity and telecommunications. It reconstructs the operations of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) during California's electricity restructuring and the resulting electricity crisis. The second case study describes how KPN Mobile managed its mobile network in the liberalized mobile telphony market in the Netherlands. Networked reliability sheds new light on the effects of restructuring and institutional fragmentation in critical infrastructures that are of interest to reliability scholars, reliability professionals and policy makers involved in critical infrastructure restructuring. One of the most important findings is that the reliability of critical infrastructures becomes increasingly reliant on real-time control room operations. This study shows how those inside the control rooms employ unconventional means to ensure the reliable services under the increased volatility and unpredictability of their new environments.