Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy
pared with those in the private sector . Despite various contemporary bright spots ( Johnson , M . P . and Smilowitz 2014 ; Holguin et al . 2013 ) as well more historical exemplars ( Larson 2002 ), problem formulations which seek to engage social good , equity and health — including trade-offs among these and other factors — remain underexplored relative to their importance to society .
It may be argued , however , that the analytic formulations which typify work on engineered services address societal concerns indirectly , through the implicit mechanisms that link the systems under study to particular societal outcomes . For example , research on performance improvements in pharmaceutical supply chains is tied implicitly to societal well-being through the sale and consumption of prescription drugs . However , with COVID-19 ( as with other disaster or even non-disaster settings ), assumptions about the demands on these supply chains may fail spectacularly ( Rieder 2019 ). Regulatory regimes may also change , as government and industry seek to control the flow of supplies ( Kanno-Youngs and Nicas 2020 ), or as prescription drug prices rise due to compromises in the supply chain which threaten manufacturing output ( Bomey 2017 ). These and other disruptions in context may be so profound as to threaten the validity of the tools and techniques embedded within them .
Structural engineers ’ approach to design has always been focused on delivering the most efficient design that preserves human life under extreme events , with life safety established as the minimum performance objective , enshrined in codes and standards . Emerging trends like Performance-Based Design are now further elevating design objectives not only to prevent injury and loss of life , but to ensure that buildings remain safe and functional after major hazard events ( Ghobarah 2001 ). Yet as discussed below , tensions remain between the intended and actual use of structures , as well as between risks avoided and induced by structures .
If we continue to assume that the context within which our engineered structures and services are embedded is equitable and benevolent ( or at least benign ), we restrict the possibility of understanding the impact of contextual factors — including corrupt and dysfunctional economic and political systems — the validity of our models and on approaches to design ( Routley 2020 ). Indeed , as the cases and situations discussed in the next section suggest , COVID-19 has raised the possibility that too many of our claims and results with respect to ESS design and operation hold only over a narrow , perhaps even tangential , set of operating conditions . As Carvalhaes et al . have noted , “ In a future defined by acceleration , increasing uncertainty , and increasing complexity , COVID-19 provides a glimpse of how best practices that were developed under past conditions that focus on efficiency and stability are becoming increasingly insufficient ” ( Carvalhaes et al . 2020 ; see also Tenner 2020 ). It is therefore essential that we develop methods for characterizing these conditions , the extent to which our results are contingent upon them , and subsequent normative guidance for ESS design , operation and assessment .
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