Research Proposal Requests

Works that address these critical concepts below will be considered as the highest priority for selection when evaluating submissions. The research proposal form features a drop down menu that may be used to identify a submission as directly related to one of the following:

• Artificial Intelligence The growth in practical application of AI for critical infrastructure protection for both government and industry partners demands that we put focus into this space if we are to stay one step ahead. New potential emerges daily but some examples include the use of AI in the broader areas of threat detection and risk management/analysis as this technology becomes more accessible.
• Cascading Effects: Cascading effects refer to the dynamics present in disasters, in which the impact of a physical event or the development of an initial technological or human failure generates a sequence of events in human subsystems that result in physical, social or economic disruption.
• Critical Infrastructure Workforce Development: Input from both industry and government constituents’ centers on the underdevelopment of the CI workforce pool. Understanding the disconnect between traditional educational venues and the needs of the CI employer including their current strengths and opportunities for improvements of workforce development is key for improving critical infrastructure operations and protection.
• Cyber-Security Threat: Benchmarking best practices in responding to a cyber-security threat at hospitals and medical centers in Texas, including attacks (e.g., ransomware), or accidental breaches involving a loss of protected data or interruption of critical operating systems which degrades operating capabilities.
• Emerging Threats: Defined as new and evolving risk that are not yet fully understood or addressed. Presents a connected combination of opportunity and risk.
• Security Drone and Robot Deployment: Assessing the cost effectiveness of security drones and security robots as part of government approved security management for: access control, visitor management, cargo inspection, perimeter patrol, loss of containment detection, occupational safety management and emergency management (e.g., firefighting, enclosed space rescue, toxic release containment, at-height emergency maintenance).
• Security Risk Assessment: Is a process that helps organizations identify, analyze and implement security controls in the workplace. It aims to prevent vulnerabilities and threats from infiltrating the organization and protect physical and informational assets from unauthorized users.
• Social Network Analysis (SNA): Broadly, using a SNA approach to identify organizational personnel and staffing decisions and explore the viability of that address how private and public organizations could modify structure and processes more effective teams, processes, and staffing products, while maintaining workforce and production compliances.
• Supply Chain Risks: Identifying best practices for efficiently and meaningfully assessing critical infrastructure corporations vulnerable supply chain interdependencies to determine
  1) How to effectively quantify crisis management readiness by key suppliers such that
  
  2) Critical infrastructure corporations can make strategic choices using identified risks in decision making.
• Water/Wastewater: The processing and flow of water and wastewater presents a critical nexus between industry and public health that requires further explorations for threats, vulnerabilities, systemic issues, regulatory and compliancy agreement, and process safety issues that when studied and articulated can improve all aspects of this critical infrastructure vertical.