IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — The Idaho National Laboratory's (INL) infrastructure analysts are working to keep US cities safe as they prepare for the FIFA World Cup.
These analysts will be working to account for substations, water treatment facilities, and hospitals near the stadiums that will be hosting the international soccer tournament.
“We find and catalog physical assets like water treatment plants, emergency communications, commuter and freight rail lines, and convention centers, and then determine the various connections and dependencies among them,” said Rob Edsall, a geospatial scientist and project lead within INL’s Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience division.
INL takes into consideration events such as cyberattacks, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters and how they can impact services within the area. They work with organizations like the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to eliminate these threats.
They map critical infrastructure facilities and their dependencies across 16 sectors, such as water, healthcare, and transportation.
INL has supported other events like the Boston Marathon and the Republican National Convention, and is currently focused on the FIFA World Cup and America 250.
They use a geospatial mapping tool called All-Hazards Analysis to manage infrastructure risk through dependency analysis. They've used this tool to prepare data sets for US cities prepping their stadiums for the World Cup, including Seattle, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.
INL analysts say that finding data can be difficult, as critical infrastructure is often privately owned. Harvey Hembree, a security analyst for INL, stated that he has some ways to work around the issue.
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“When we can’t gather data from the top down, we use tools like Google Maps Street View and satellite imagery,” said Hembree. “Sometimes we end up reading public records like city council meeting minutes that give us information about replacing a sewage pump on Smith Street.”
From there, the infrastructure buildouts are disseminated to local and state officials, allowing them to create guidance and actionable steps if certain disruptions were to occur.
“This capability hasn’t really existed before now,” said Edsall. “The societal relevance of our work is clear. No private company is going to do this — there’s no profit in it. We do it in support of state preparedness and national security. If we don’t understand these systems, it puts our country at risk.”
Read the entire INL article here: Idaho National Laboratory helps prepare cities for the FIFA World Cup
