Abstract
Among the many repercussions of the COVID-19 emergency to be assessed, those on critical infrastructures and the associated businesses and professions are certainly important ones. In this paper, we document the conception, implementation and outcome of a survey organized by European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and entitled “COVID-19: Emergency &Business Continuity”. This was conducted in April-May 2020 with the participation of critical infrastructure experts (including professionals from the academia and research institutions, infrastructure operators and industry representatives, public authorities and members of security agencies), involved as stakeholders in the European Reference Network for Critical Infrastructure Protection (ERNCIP). Themes explored through this study include an assessment of the business continuity status and the evaluation of emergency management and disaster recovery aspects, as experienced from the perspective of different sectors, organization types and personal perceptions of the respondents.
Highlights
Critical infrastructures (CIs), sometimes defined as the nervous sys tem of our societies, are not exempt from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic
Among the recent initiatives in this direction, we can mention for instance the “Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce” advisory list issued by the US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which provides a catalog of those identified as categories of essential CI workers
The present paper aims at contributing to this research stream by documenting an empirical study we recently conducted through survey initiative “COVID-19: Emergency & Business Continuity”
Summary
Critical infrastructures (CIs), sometimes defined as the nervous sys tem of our societies, are not exempt from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key elements are disaster prevention and recovery, with business continuity planning playing a fundamental role in operational risk management. In the wake of the pandemic outbreak, the present survey serves to gauge the business continuity status of the Critical Infrastructure (CI) sectors. It aims to field map response strategies and priority measures put in place by suppliers and customers, as well as to assess the capability of the system to sustain changes. Scientific work touching upon the themes of business continuity and disaster preparedness through surveys can be found well before the COVID-19 emergency. The same reference contains recommendations to ensure business continuity, protect employees, accelerate recovery, improve resilience, and cope with long-term impacts
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