Multi-Perspective Scenario-Based Preferences in Enterprise Risk Analysis of Public Safety Wireless Broadband Network

Agencies that have key roles in disaster mitigation in society may be underequipped with communication technology to effectively meet demands during times of crisis. In particular, high-bandwidth software applications that make use of streaming video and transmission of big data are on the horizon. The US national First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) aims to alleviate this need by providing a public safety broadband network for communications among first responders both during times of crisis and normal operations. Early in the lifecycle of this large-scale system, there are a variety of sources of enterprise risk to be identified and addressed as well as opportunity to improve enterprise resilience at a variety of geographic and temporal scales. This thesis identifies the emergent and future conditions that most and least matter to enterprise risk management, demonstrating a risk analysis model that is grounded in the latest theory of multi-perspective scenario-based preferences analysis. The effort extends theory and practice by iteratively applying a multi-perspective approach, testing the approach in the new circumstances of an advanced communication system. It demonstrates how scenarios relatively influence the prioritization of initiatives for each key stakeholder and how to update the assessment for the monitoring of risk over months and years of the deployment. The steps of the approach are the following (i) literature and practice review, (ii) data collection on emergent/future conditions, initiatives, and success criteria, (iii) initial exercise of the model, (iv) stakeholder feedback and validation with partner efforts, (v) revision and iteration of the model, and (vi) recommendations for tracking of enterprise risks into the future. This effort is coordinated with the efforts of two other teams of investigators who provide (i) technology assessment of broadband wireless networks for public safety, and (ii) the legal and social context. The intellectual merit is enterprise risk analysis addressing emergent and future conditions influencing the success criteria for interrelated distributed investments in wireless broadband. The broader impact is a framework for use by the 56 US states and territories that are concurrently adopting FirstNet over the next decade, expected to protect cost, resources, and time.