For example, a development team at Sandia Laboratories led by Kevin Stamber, Richard Detry, and Shirley Starks has developed a system called FAIT (Fast Analysis Infrastructure Tool) for use in the...

For example, a development team at Sandia Laboratories led by Kevin Stamber, Richard Detry, and Shirley Starks has developed a system called FAIT (Fast Analysis Infrastructure Tool) for use in the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC). FAIT addressesthe problem of charting and analyzing the interdependencies between infrastructure elements to help the Department of Homeland Security respond to hurricanes and other natural disasters. Although there are databases that show the location of generating plants, sub-stations, power lines, gas lines, telecommunication facilities, roads and other infrastructure elements, there are two problems with this data:

1. Interdependencies between elements are not shown explicitly in the databases. For example, databases of electrical power generation elements do not explicitly state which substations service which generating plants, relying on human experts to infer this from factors like co-location, ownership by the same utility, etc.

2. Interactions between different types of utilities, such as the effect of an electrical power outage on telecommunications hubs or gas pumping stations must be inferred from multiple data sources.