Networked reliability: Institutional fragmentation and the reliability of service provision in critical infrastructures

Critical Infrastructures are the arteries and veins of Western, urbanized societies. The services and products provided by these large-scale, complex systems are considered essential. However, in recent years, more and more new problems seem to crop op after these infrastructures were opened up to market forces. What has happened in these critical infrastructures that we have come to depend upon? How did restructuring affect the reliability of their services? This study takes the reader beyond the debate between states and markets and focuses on the daily control and management of critical infrastructures - the world of control rooms. How has restructuring influenced the ability of those who operate these critical infrastructures to provide reliable services? And how do they cope with the effects of restructuring? Networked reliability presents first-hand accounts from electricity and telecommunications. It reconstructs the operations of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) during California's electricity restructuring and the resulting electricity crisis. The second case study describes how KPN Mobile managed its mobile network in the liberalized mobile telphony market in the Netherlands. Networked reliability sheds new light on the effects of restructuring and institutional fragmentation in critical infrastructures that are of interest to reliability scholars, reliability professionals and policy makers involved in critical infrastructure restructuring. One of the most important findings is that the reliability of critical infrastructures becomes increasingly reliant on real-time control room operations. This study shows how those inside the control rooms employ unconventional means to ensure the reliable services under the increased volatility and unpredictability of their new environments.Technology, Policy and Managemen

Cybersecurity en privacy

Multi Actor SystemsTechnology, Policy and Managemen

Reflections on the role of energy network companies in the energy transition

Background Energy network companies are commonly attributed the public task to help society in becoming greener in the domain of energy. This extra public task has high costs and comes with high uncertainties. It may also compete with existing public tasks of network companies. When network companies are involved in local green initiatives, they encounter dilemmas and need to arrange trade-offs among multiple public values. It may also compete with existing tasks of network companies. Therefore, these network companies can face dilemmas when involved in local green initiatives. The aim of this paper is to reflect on the role of energy network companies in the face of these dilemmas. What is the role of energy network companies in coping with conflicting public values when helping local initiatives that create a greener energy system? Methods We answer this question via an essay that reflects on existing research in the Dutch energy sector. Our answer is derived from the fields of law, politics, policy, economics and engineering about the role of network companies. Results and discussion We argue that these five perspectives leave the role of energy network companies in the energy transition under-articulated. Our additional answer is based on our own empirical research that focuses on how network companies currently deal with dilemmas between multiple public tasks. Conclusion We provide an analytical framework that enables a way of understanding the role of network companies in the struggle with dilemmas and raise several points of discussion to that might refocus efforts of researchers and practitioners to elucidate the role of network companies.Multi Actor SystemsTechnology, Policy and Managemen

Waarom worstelen netbeheerders met de energietransitie? Vijf holle antwoorden en een empirisch perspectief

In dit essay betogen we dat de rol van netbeheerders in de energiesector verre van glashelder is. Dit blijkt in het bijzonder als we nagaan hoe netbeheerders de energietransitie op lokaal en regionaal niveau zouden moeten faciliteren. Heersende rolopvattingen vanuit juridisch, politiek, beleidsmatig, economisch of technisch oogpunt zijn weliswaar helder in hun afbakening van de netbeheerdersrol, maar ze bieden betrekkelijk weinig ruimte en richting om met dilemma’s en rolconflicten om te gaan. Wij pleiten voor een elementaire heroriëntatie op de rol van netbeheerders om hun maatschappelijk gewenste bijdrage aan de energietransitie beter te kunnen doorzien, benoemen en erantwoorden.Multi Actor SystemsTechnology, Policy and Managemen

The Brittleness of Unbundled Train Systems: Crumbling Operational Coping Strategies

This paper reports on the current status of the restructured Dutch rail sector. We empirically studied the strategies traffic controllers display to cope with daily value-conflicts in rail operations, at infrastructure manager ProRail and train operating company NS. We use a new framework to identify types of coping behavior. The findings are put in a broader perspective and related to literature on the organization of large complex socio-technical systems. In conclusion, we suggest what to make of the current coping strategies and the changed complexity of managing train systems. Current developments seem to raise the level of system performance but ignore the operational context of coping, making the train system more brittle on the long term.Multi Actor SystemsTechnology, Policy and Managemen

Hoe écht is een virtuele crisis? De rol van serious gaming in crisis- en rampenbestrijding

In het Bestuurskunde themanummer over ‘spelsimulaties’ in 1995 werd een visionair beeld geschetst van het experimenteel oefenen van ‘virtual reality’. In dit artikel analyseren we of deze toekomstvisie is uitgekomen. Wat is de rol van serious gaming in crisismanagement en rampenbestrijding? Hoe écht is zo’n virtuele crisis nu precies? We laten we aan de hand van het gedachtegoed van Karl Weick en de game Dijk Patrouille zien dat gaming een betekenisverlenende methode is. Een virtuele crisis blijkt ‘echter’ dan we vaak beseffen. En in de nabije toekomst kan serious gaming mogelijk ook ingezet worden om crisisbesluitvormers te trainen.Multi Actor SystemsTechnology, Policy and Managemen

How do network companies seek legitimacy for public value trade offs?: The case of injecting biogas

Network companies fulfill a critical role in the energy transition. The is article provides an empirical study of this role of a Dutch national gas network company connecting a biogas producer. This project requires choices about many intertwined technical and institutional variables. Choices involve multiple, potentially competing public values like safety, cost-efficiency, sustainability and non-discrimination. A formal governance structure provides generic guidelines for network companies about how to act in the public interest, but we argue that unclarity remains on how to trade-off public values. In these instances, a network company seeks legitimacy for the choices that are made. Via an in-depth case study on the injection of biogas we explored how a network company interpreted its public role and how public value trade-off s were made. We conclude that legitimacy is sought and found in a mixture of formal and informal ways both inside the network company as well as outside. Although the governance regime allowed the network company to take a leading role in the innovative project, it failed as a starting point to claim legitimacy. These findings provide food for thought on how to institutionally embed the role of network companies in the energy transition.Organisation and Governanc

Institutional dependencies in climate adaptation of transport infrastructures: an Institutional Network Analysis approach

Climate adaptation measures are shaped and implemented through processes of governance, where the interactions and decision-making among actors lead to the creation and reinforcement of institutions. Institutions in this respect are the rules that shape the interactions of actors in different phases of climate adaptation. Currently there is no comprehensive method to systematically identify and map dependencies between institutions. This study proposes the Institutional Network Analysis (INA) approach that is based on the Institutional Grammar as a systematic and comprehensive tool to (1) visualise institutional dependencies, (2) identify points of concern in the institutional landscape such as conflicts and voids, and (3) provide quantitative insights into the centrality of actors, embeddedness of institutional outcomes, and dependencies between institutions. The approach is applied to the case of climate adaptation of transport infrastructures surrounding the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The analysis reveals a conflict in the use of risk assessment criteria, as parties in the Port may follow their own matrices in the presence of a shared decision-making framework. Nonetheless, the network metric analysis reveals that the criteria, whether shared or individual, build on the same source of risk analysis, suggesting that this duality may not be detrimental for climate adaptation efforts. Additionally, an institutional void is identified for financial responsibilities in locations where infrastructures overlap. Finally, the network metrics show high dependency between institutions in the risk dialogue phase, and reveal the centrality of infrastructure owners ProRail and RWS in the institutional landscape instead of local or regional governmental bodies.Energy & IndustryOrganisation and Governanc

Risk Personalization: Governing Uncertain Collective Risk Through Individual Decisions

Individuals are regularly made responsible for risks they wish to take: one can consent to processing of personal data, and decide what to buy based on risk information on product labels. However, both large-scale processing of personal data and aggregated product choices may carry collective risks for society. In such situations, governance arrangements implying individual responsibility are at odds with uncertain collective risks from new technologies. We, therefore, investigate the governance challenges of what we call risk personalization: a form of governance for dealing with uncertain collective risks that allocates responsibility for governing those risks to individuals. We situate risk personalization at the intersection of two trends: governance of uncertain risk, and emphasis on individual responsibility. We then analyze three cases selected based on diversity: social media, nanomaterials, and Uber. Cross-case comparison highlights issues of risk personalization pertaining to (i) the nature of the risk, (ii) governance arrangements in place, and (iii) mechanisms for allocating responsibility to individuals. We identify governance challenges in terms of (i) meaningful choice, (ii) effectiveness in mitigating risk, and (iii) collective decision making capacity. We conclude that the risk personalization lens stimulates reflection on the effectiveness and legitimacy of risk governance in light of individual agency.Organisation and Governanc

Dealing with Cross-Sectoral Uncertainty: A Case Study on Governing Uncertainty for Infrastructures in Transition

The interdependencies between infrastructures are growing. Engineering decision making that earlier was largely confined to a specific sector now requires more and more understanding of how systems interact: a system-of-systems perspective. The article analyzes the effect of that added complexity in a single case study in de Zuid-As, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and relates the findings to the literature on engineering decision making and project management in complex projects. The article concludes that cross-sectoral engineering decision making has an additional level of complexity that requires governance of uncertainty. Despite this challenge being a well-known challenge among infrastructure operators, it is still not recognized for its importance, and it seems to be a neglected element in collaboration. Key is an open approach in the early stages that goes beyond classic cooperative decision making in engineering and project management environments.Organisation & Governanc