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Critical Information Infrastructures: Should Models Represent Structures or Functions?

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Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security (SAFECOMP 2008)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 5219))

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Abstract

The common approaches to modeling and analyzing complex socio-technical systems, of which Critical Information Infrastructures is one example, assumes that they can be completely specified. The methods emphasize how systems are composed or structured and how component failures propagate. Since socio-technical systems always are underspecified, they cannot be analyzed in the same way. The alternative is to focus on their functions, and how the variability of functions can combine to create non-linear effects. An example of that is the Functional Resonance Analysis method (FRAM).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. École des Mines ParisTech, Crisis and Risk Research Centre Sophia Antipolis, France

    Erik Hollnagel

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  1. Erik Hollnagel
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Claremont Tower, NE1 7RU, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Michael D. Harrison

  2. Health Sciences Research Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

    Mark-Alexander Sujan

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Hollnagel, E. (2008). Critical Information Infrastructures: Should Models Represent Structures or Functions?. In: Harrison, M.D., Sujan, MA. (eds) Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security. SAFECOMP 2008. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5219. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87698-4_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87698-4_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-87697-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-87698-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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