As societies come to depend ever more on big and complex systems – such as world-spanning communications, finance, and production networks – the art and science of distributing political and physical risks become that much more important.
Sometimes we fall short. In recent years we have witnessed a terrifying new phenomenon––the crash of entire industrial and banking systems due to cut off of a single city, a single factory, or a single bank. Many different events may trigger such a crash. But all crashes share a single characteristic: too much capacity, hence too much risk, concentrated in one place.
The Project investigates the root causes and dynamics of this huge and growing danger; convenes engineers, business managers, policymakers, and security experts to identify solutions; and works with news media to deepen the public’s understanding of this threat. The aim is to promote the resilience of key systems by redistributing risk, power, and opportunity among more people.
To learn more, please click here.
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Frequent industrial disruptions in recent years have made the fragility of our systems more obvious. This growing awareness has led to research identifying the problem and documenting the implications for specific communities. Many of these studies provide helpful overviews, but crucial gaps remain -- both in areas of study and, more critically, in understanding the systemic nature of the threat.
The Project surveys existing research to promote useful analyses and to identify areas that still deserve more attention. Click here for an overview of this work.