70NANB23H208
Cooperative Agreement
Overview
Grant Description
Purpose: Water and power companies, other critical infrastructure providers (municipal and investor-owned utilities), industry standard setting organizations, financial institutions, regulators, and engineering firms are actively seeking resilience solutions.
During Phase II, Criticality Sciences, Inc. plans to develop a commercial method to assess the water and power global critical infrastructure.
Activities to be performed: In Phase I, Criticality Sciences demonstrated that power network interdependencies were the source of most of a midsize U.S. water distribution operator's vulnerability to cascading failure events.
In Phase II, Criticality Sciences will validate input data used by the NetResilience software, and anticipates that NetResilience will provide scalable, market-ready outputs for optimizing and financing investments to improve network resilience.
Expected outcomes: Expected outcomes from the Phase II project seek to translate the costs and benefits of mitigation into the preferred financial risk and decision metrics used by the operator, its public service commission, and its bond issuers.
Intended beneficiaries: Criticality Sciences' resilience solutions will benefit a wide range of utility and engineering customers, NIST and other national and university research institutions.
Subrecipient activities: There are no subrecipients on this award.
During Phase II, Criticality Sciences, Inc. plans to develop a commercial method to assess the water and power global critical infrastructure.
Activities to be performed: In Phase I, Criticality Sciences demonstrated that power network interdependencies were the source of most of a midsize U.S. water distribution operator's vulnerability to cascading failure events.
In Phase II, Criticality Sciences will validate input data used by the NetResilience software, and anticipates that NetResilience will provide scalable, market-ready outputs for optimizing and financing investments to improve network resilience.
Expected outcomes: Expected outcomes from the Phase II project seek to translate the costs and benefits of mitigation into the preferred financial risk and decision metrics used by the operator, its public service commission, and its bond issuers.
Intended beneficiaries: Criticality Sciences' resilience solutions will benefit a wide range of utility and engineering customers, NIST and other national and university research institutions.
Subrecipient activities: There are no subrecipients on this award.
Awardee
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding / Funding Agency
Place of Performance
Alexandria,
Virginia
22314-3815
United States
Geographic Scope
Single Zip Code
Related Opportunity
None
Criticality Sciences was awarded
Cooperative Agreement 70NANB23H208
worth $400,000
from the National Institute of Standards and Technology in October 2023 with work to be completed primarily in Alexandria Virginia United States.
The grant
has a duration of 2 years and
was awarded through assistance program 11.620 Science, Technology, Business and/or Education Outreach.
SBIR Details
Research Type
SBIR Phase II
Title
Network Resilience to Cascading Failure
Abstract
The 21st century is the Age of the Network. Operators and clients of critical infrastructure networks are now vulnerable to cascading failures that they could not have seen coming. “Cascading” failure events remain a vital unsolved challenge as critical infrastructure network operators and regulators struggle to define and operationalize resilience, and measurement of interdependent network resilience to “all-hazards.” We must quickly translate the emerging theories of networked systems resilience into practicable methods that
demonstrate cost-effective and measurable improvements in the risk all-hazards events pose to critical infrastructure networks. In work funded by a Phase I grant from the 2022 NIST SBIR program, Criticality Sciences demonstrated that the SCADA and power network interdependencies were the source of most of a midsize U.S. water distribution operator’s vulnerability to cascading failure events. With the support of our industry partner, Phase II will validate input data used by the NetResilience software. Results will translate the costs and benefits of mitigation into the preferred financial risk and decision metrics used by the operator, its public service commission, and its bond issuers. NetResilience will provide scalable, market-ready outputs for optimizing and financing investments to improve network resilience.
Topic Code
6
Solicitation Number
2023-NIST-SBIR-02
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 9/26/23
Period of Performance
10/1/23
Start Date
9/30/25
End Date
Funding Split
$400.0K
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$400.0K
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
70NANB23H208
SAI Number
70NANB23H208_0
Award ID URI
EXE
Awardee Classifications
Small Business
Awarding Office
1333ND DEPT OF COMMERCE NIST
Funding Office
1333ND DEPT OF COMMERCE NIST
Awardee UEI
ZCEVNCSPNXG4
Awardee CAGE
7QSH7
Performance District
VA-08
Senators
Mark Warner
Timothy Kaine
Timothy Kaine
Budget Funding
| Federal Account | Budget Subfunction | Object Class | Total | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Working Capital Fund, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce (013-4650) | Other advancement of commerce | Grants, subsidies, and contributions (41.0) | $400,000 | 100% |
Modified: 9/26/23