The recent wildfires in Southern California have caused over $250 billion in damages and caused widespread power outages, transportation disruptions, and tragic loss of life and belongings. This disaster underscores a growing reality: extreme weather events and cyberattacks pose unprecedented threats to critical infrastructure.
From power grids to transportation networks, the systems that underpin modern society are increasingly vulnerable to disruptions. A single failure can trigger cascading breakdowns, leading to massive economic losses, compromised public safety, and prolonged recovery periods.
Most existing risk frameworks focus narrowly on single networks, failing to capture the complex interdependencies that define today’s infrastructure landscape. A power outage can halt transportation, disrupt emergency services, and cripple communication systems. Yet, decision-makers often lack the tools to fully assess these risks.
Jack Watson, PhD Candidate in Interdisciplinary Engineering at Northeastern, is addressing this urgent challenge through his project, InfRA-DST (Infrastructure Resilience Analysis Decision Support Tool), and the newly formed Northeastern spinout company, Enodia Inc. This suite of analysis and visualization software is designed to provide a comprehensive, system-wide view of risk, helping decision-makers anticipate vulnerabilities, allocate resources more effectively, and strengthen critical systems against both natural and manmade hazards.
InfRA-DST: A Smarter Approach to Infrastructure Resilience
Developed by Jack Watson, Prof. Auroop Ganguly, and their team at Northeastern University, InfRA-DST is designed to strengthen infrastructure resilience by providing a system-wide view of risk. Their work, supported by the Department of Defense’s SERDP Networked Infrastructures under Compound Extremes (NICE) initiative, focuses on ensuring that infrastructure is not just fail-safe but also safe to fail—meaning that even when disruptions occur, the system can adapt and recover without catastrophic consequences.
“Traditional resilience planning often misses the big picture,” says Watson. “InfRA-DST helps decision-makers assess risk across interconnected systems before, during, and after disasters— ensuring that investments in resilience are both effective and strategic, so that if something happens, systems don’t fail as poorly, damage is lessened, and things can rebound more quickly.”
InfRA-DST operates across different timescales, from guiding immediate post-disaster recovery efforts to shaping long-term infrastructure adaptation and resilience planning. It helps decision-makers prioritize resources in the short term while ensuring sustainable, system-wide improvements over years and decades.
A newly formed spinout, Enodia Inc., founded by Jack Watson, Auroop Ganguly, Rohit Bokade, and Dominika Dzierzynski, is working to bring this technology to market, translating research into real-world impact.
Why Infrastructure Resilience Matters
The need for resilient infrastructure solutions has never been greater. Disasters are becoming more frequent and severe, driving demand for tools that can mitigate risks and enhance system robustness. Despite billions spent on disaster response, many organizations lack the predictive insights needed to make cost-effective, proactive investments in resilience.
Watson sees meaningful applications of this technology across private and public sectors. It could benefit entities such as infrastructure planning services, power utilities, railroads, telecoms, municipal water and sewer authorities, state Departments of Transportation, transit agencies, federal security, and more.
The market for critical infrastructure protection is substantial and growing. The global critical infrastructure protection market, valued at $148.1 billion in 2024, is projected to reach $196.6 billion by 2031. Meanwhile, climate-related disasters have cost the global economy $2.2 trillion between 1998 and 2017, according to the United Nations. The scale of these losses highlights the pressing need for innovative, data-driven resilience solutions like InfRA-DST.
“As disasters continue to escalate, the demand for asset protection will only grow,” Watson notes. “We are building a solution that doesn’t just react to disasters but helps prevent their worst consequences.”
The Spark Fund: From Research to Real-World Impact
Watson and his team are ultimately focused on real-world implementation. With support from Northeastern’s Fall 2024 Spark Fund Award, which he received for his research, Watson will be able to expand the team and refine the solutions while leveraging CRI’s resources to build connections with key stakeholders.
“We can build models and publish papers all day, but until we’re working with those who are making decisions on the ground, we won’t have the impact we’re all striving toward,” Watson explains. “The Spark Fund allows us to sharpen our messaging and refine our tools to ensure our solutions are practical for the people who need them most.”
Key Takeaways: Building a Resilient Future
As climate change, cyber threats, and aging infrastructure continue to pose growing challenges, InfRA-DST represents a crucial step toward smarter, more adaptive resilience planning. By integrating cutting-edge research with real-world applications, this technology is transforming how infrastructure decisions are made, ensuring that critical systems remain robust in the face of uncertainty.
With the support of the Spark Fund, Watson and the Enodia team are well-positioned to scale their solution and bring much-needed resilience to infrastructure networks worldwide.
“Recovering even a fraction of the billions lost annually to disasters would justify our mission, and we intend to recover a lot more than that,” says Watson.
Learn more about Watson’s research and the three other Fall 2024 Spark Award awardees here.
Written by Elizabeth Creason