CEGE Professor Liz Varga spearheads new ISO Standard on Infrastructure Resilience

Liz Varga, Professor of Complex Systems at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, is leading the charge for a new ISO standard on infrastructure resilience. The ISO/WD 22372 - Security and Resilience-Resilient Infrastructure, is a comprehensive guidance document aimed at developing, implementing, monitoring, and improving infrastructure resilience.

The standard is designed to ensure the continuity and effectiveness of critical services and can be utilised by any level of government, institutions, donors, infrastructure regulators, investors and owners, designers and contractors, service providers, and international organisations. According to Professor Varga, the standard would play a crucial role in infrastructure development and provide essential guidance in enhancing the resilience of critical services:

The current approach to infrastructure planning, financing, design, development, operations, and decommissioning, does not fully take into account either the interdependent nature of infrastructure and services, or the increasingly complex nature of risks and the cascading impacts that a disaster can have across the whole infrastructure system. This new standard will set a common basic understanding and approach to “Think Resilient Infrastructure,” encouraging a more comprehensive way of looking at risks and interlinkages, adaptable to specific national risks to resilience.

How you can get involved

Interested parties are encouraged to collaborate and learn more about the ISO/WD 22372 by getting in touch with Professor Varga (l.varga@ucl.ac.uk). With the new ISO standard coming in place and the upcoming MSc programme, infrastructure resilience is set to improve significantly, ensuring the continued provision of critical services in the industry.

Infrastructure Systems MSc starting September 2023

To further promote infrastructure resilience, Professor Varga is the programme director for a new Infrastructure Systems MSc this autumn. The Infrastructure Systems MSc focuses on equipping students with the necessary knowledge and skills to design, manage, and adapt infrastructure systems such as transport and energy to provide better critical services. The programme highlights the interdependent nature of these systems and their potential to have positive societal, economic, and environmental impacts.