About this event

John Beckford

Beginning with an overview of the opportunities and challenges for infrastructure in the U.K., Professor John Beckford explores how infrastructure has been articulated and explored as a “system of systems.” He shows how growing interdependency within systems of infrastructure improves local efficiency in the short run, yet can damage systemic effectiveness and resilience, increase risk, and lead to potential “single points of failure” in the long term.

Within the field of infrastructure, Beckford explores how such factors as regulatory and funding models, business models, globalization of supply chains, changes in skill sets, and increasing reliance on remote internet-enabled management each affect the resilience of infrastructure and the consequent risks facing society as a whole. Articulating a systemic perspective on the meaning of “performance,” Beckford illustrates his lecture with examples from transportation, energy, telecommunications, education and healthcare.