Idea: Systemic Disruption Dashboard

Data centers in the NYC region

Lead time for an inbound threat varies from minutes to days. There should be a tool that can adapt to either timeline that assesses the potential for systems disruption. Data centers, railways, bridges, sewers, energy pipelines, subway switches, the list goes on. What’s in harms way? Can it be affected by the threat (fire? water? wind? bomb?).

An at a glance systems disruption dashboard. Should be baked into every city command center. But also available to the population. I would use this to monitor every major event, ever.

Example: Johns Hopkins has this capability for the electricity grid. Their model says Sandy could take down power for 10 million. That’s useful knowledge. Much more useful than the weatherporn the masses are getting now – random places with water or a reporter being blown around in the wind.

The same tool could be used over time to to build out a resiliency index. How much of what is locally produced/consumed? Response times. How susceptible is a place to disruption? Can it survive on its own and for how long?

FEMA/DHS/etc should have this. But that’s the wrong customer for stuff that matters.

-Shlok
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