Critical infrastructure resilience: a guide for building indicator systems based on a multi-criteria framework with a focus on implementable actions

Abstract. Criteria and indicators are frequently used for assessing the resilience of critical infrastructure (CI). Moreover, to generate precise information on conditions, the assessment designed for CI resilience could rely on indicator systems. However, few practical tools exist for guiding CI managers to build specific indicator systems for considering real cases. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to develop a step-by-step guide that contains guidance on operational steps and required resources for criteria and indicator setting, reference definition, and data collection. This guide enables CI managers to build systems of indicators tailored to different real cases. This guide could assist CI managers in their decision-making process, as it is structured based on a multi-criteria framework that takes into account the cost–benefit analysis and side effects of implementable actions. This guide could furthermore advance the application of indicator-based CI resilience assessment in practical management. In addition, this study provides an example to demonstrate how to use this guide. This example is based on specific circumstances for the Nantes Ring Road (NRR) network: when the ring road is flooded and closed, the road network manager suggests alternative roads to the public. An indicator system consisting of 4 criteria, 7 sub-criteria, and 11 indicators was built for these circumstances using the guide developed in this paper. This example relates to criteria and indicators in the technical, social, and environmental dimensions and involves 62 676 data points.