Developing an overarching legal framework for critical service delivery in America’s cities: Three recommendations for enhancing security and reliability

State and Local governments must develop an overarching legal foundation to manage critical service delivery in an electronic environment. Prior to establishing a foundation, decision-makers must first adopt a philosophy that focuses and harnesses expressions of law and public policy. The research and development community must supports the nation’s efforts with programs designed to aid in the risk assessment process. These programs must focus on identifying better ways to quantify risk, understanding infrastructure interdependency, and measuring cascading damages flowing from service outages. Finally, State and Local leaders should adopt security guidelines for industry and government service providers. Guidelines involve ten well-defined process requirements, all of which must be implemented to provide services online and in a safe and secure manner.