Readout of the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) Quarterly Meeting

This week, the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) held its quarterly business meeting. They were welcomed by Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall, White House homeland security adviser. After reviewing cross-cutting critical infrastructure policy challenges, members discussed and adopted an upcoming report to the President, which identifies barriers to cooperation among critical infrastructure sectors on security and resiliency issues, and proposes some recommendations to address these issues. Among the recommendations, the report identifies the need for outcome-based goals and mandatory standards for managing the security and resilience of critical infrastructure assets. Additionally, recognizing that failure of critical infrastructure disproportionately affects our nation’s most vulnerable populations, NIAC recommends intentionally including these vulnerable communities in planning and recovery. Members also highlighted the need for targeted drills and exercises to improve incident response in interdependent infrastructure sectors and supply chains. NIAC is currently composed of 25 executive leaders from the private sector and state, local and tribal governments who advise the President on how to reduce physical and cyber risks and improve the security and resiliency of the nation’s critical infrastructure.

###