• When and where will critical situations occur with the existing infrastructure
system?
• Are there strategies which enable robust and resilient infrastructure service
performance under different scenarios?
• When demand changes occur or scheduled plans are implemented, will there be
qualitative changes in the multi-sector infrastructure system? If yes, can they be
identified?
This approach seeks to provide evidence to address these and other ‘what if’
questions, from the perspective of a decision-maker who is interested in choosing
between alternative strategies. There are many people who might be interested in
these answers: governments, regulators, infrastructure owners/operators, customers/
passengers and so on.
The performance of infrastructure sectors may be analysed by system models,
which estimate the capacity of existing infrastructure and compare against the
demand for services. (This has been further detailed in Chap. 5)
The system-of-systems perspective enables addressing the important
interlinkages among the infrastructure sectors. These links originate from demands
across sectors and feedbacks, inter alia:
• Energy-transport connections: electric vehicles, smart grids and the power grid
structure impact upon one another via a set of feedbacks (prices, demand).
• Energy-water, energy-waste connections: water production, wastewater and
solid waste treatment not only need energy, but are interlinked, possibly through
schemes involving energy recovery, the circular economy or co-emissions.
Meanwhile, energy production requires water resources for cooling and hydrogeneration.
• ICT-infrastructure connections: the increase of integrated ICT systems has
modified the use patterns and hence, and the demand for classical infrastructure.
New connections are now possible between different transport modes or for
managing the demand for energy.
These interdependencies can best be represented on a systems modelling framework (shown in Fig. 6.2), so as to determine the possible impact of different
strategies. Instead of just running a number of specialised single sector simulations,
the systems modelling framework enables cross-sector model integration, by
enabling rapid communication among a group of models. Even if, at different time
stages, allocation of scarce resources might require or induce performance trade-offs
among different sectors, the systems modelling framework would still allow the
implementation of a cross-sectoral decision-making process.
While the supply capacity of existing infrastructure systems depends on the
physical state of the infrastructure assets, and its ongoing maintenance, the demand
for infrastructure services can be estimated through demand models or elasticity
functions relating demand to other variables. However, it is important to know
whether demand does not exceed supply capacity of existing infrastructure. Any
possible capacity limitation in the future implies that further investment or some
policy interventions might be required.
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6 Infrastructure as a System
system?
• Are there strategies which enable robust and resilient infrastructure service
performance under different scenarios?
• When demand changes occur or scheduled plans are implemented, will there be
qualitative changes in the multi-sector infrastructure system? If yes, can they be
identified?
This approach seeks to provide evidence to address these and other ‘what if’
questions, from the perspective of a decision-maker who is interested in choosing
between alternative strategies. There are many people who might be interested in
these answers: governments, regulators, infrastructure owners/operators, customers/
passengers and so on.
The performance of infrastructure sectors may be analysed by system models,
which estimate the capacity of existing infrastructure and compare against the
demand for services. (This has been further detailed in Chap. 5)
The system-of-systems perspective enables addressing the important
interlinkages among the infrastructure sectors. These links originate from demands
across sectors and feedbacks, inter alia:
• Energy-transport connections: electric vehicles, smart grids and the power grid
structure impact upon one another via a set of feedbacks (prices, demand).
• Energy-water, energy-waste connections: water production, wastewater and
solid waste treatment not only need energy, but are interlinked, possibly through
schemes involving energy recovery, the circular economy or co-emissions.
Meanwhile, energy production requires water resources for cooling and hydrogeneration.
• ICT-infrastructure connections: the increase of integrated ICT systems has
modified the use patterns and hence, and the demand for classical infrastructure.
New connections are now possible between different transport modes or for
managing the demand for energy.
These interdependencies can best be represented on a systems modelling framework (shown in Fig. 6.2), so as to determine the possible impact of different
strategies. Instead of just running a number of specialised single sector simulations,
the systems modelling framework enables cross-sector model integration, by
enabling rapid communication among a group of models. Even if, at different time
stages, allocation of scarce resources might require or induce performance trade-offs
among different sectors, the systems modelling framework would still allow the
implementation of a cross-sectoral decision-making process.
While the supply capacity of existing infrastructure systems depends on the
physical state of the infrastructure assets, and its ongoing maintenance, the demand
for infrastructure services can be estimated through demand models or elasticity
functions relating demand to other variables. However, it is important to know
whether demand does not exceed supply capacity of existing infrastructure. Any
possible capacity limitation in the future implies that further investment or some
policy interventions might be required.
172
6 Infrastructure as a System