Grating

IOAF dialogues

First dialogue: April 2014, London

A joint activity with the EA’s Infrastructure Operators Adaptation Forum, and hosted by IET:

  • To explore what is work is happening in infrastructure interdependencies in practice, policy and academia (understanding of the landscape)
  • To better understand the challenges of understanding and addressing interdependencies from the participants’ perspectives
  • To identify next steps for the dialogue.

Presentations: Practice

Presentations: Research

  • ITRC – Jim Hall (pdf, 18.1 MB)
  • iBuild – Richard Dawson (pdf, 11.2 MB)

Presentations: Policy

  • IUK – David Penhallurick, including reference to work by UK Regulators Network (pdf, 2 MB)

Discussions

  • Discussion and sharing by participants of other initiatives to provide a better understanding of the landscape
  • Facilitated discussion to explore lessons learnt and challenges related to addressing dependencies / interdependencies
  • Identifying the next steps in this Dialogue.
  • List of participants (pdf, 1.2 MB)
  • Report of the meeting (pdf, 1.6 MB)

Second dialogue: June 2014, Birmingham

Presentations from this session sought to better understand the overall interdependencies landscape, and the challenges and opportunities of differing backgrounds and perspectives.

Identified research & knowledge gaps

Better understanding of infrastructure interdependencies:

  • What is included under infrastructure interdependencies?
  • What are we trying to achieve?
  • What can be achieved and are their priorities?

Better understanding of barriers and enablers to adopting an approach that includes interactions between infrastructure operators (i.e. interdependent infrastructure). Similarly when including natural infrastructure as part of service delivery.

Need to better understand adaptation and resilience of infrastructure in the context of change and what this means for delivering required services.

  • What is the role of infrastructure interdependencies (including when combining with natural infrastructure) in terms of reducing and increasing risks to infrastructure and service delivery?
  • What role does infrastructure interdependencies play in adaptation and resilience of that infrastructure and service delivery?

Need for business models that support adaptive and resilient infrastructure.

Role of natural infrastructure in delivering infrastructure services, including in conjunction with engineered infrastructure. Better understanding of interdependencies between the natural environment and engineered infrastructure, including:

  • Impacts of the natural environment on delivering infrastructure services
  • Impacts of infrastructure on the natural environment
  • Synergies and conflicts between broader ecosystem services and infrastructure services
  • Means of valuing natural infrastructure such that investments are encouraged.