Partnership for Critical Infrastructure Security

"Government at the federal, state and local level must actively collaborate and partner with the private sector, which controls 85 percent of America's infrastructure. ... The Nation's infrastructure protection effort must harness the capabilities of the private sector to achieve a prudent level of security without hindering productivity, trade or economic growth."

The President's National Strategy for Homeland Security, page 33

Our Mission

The mission of the Partnership for Critical Infrastructure Security (PCIS) is to coordinate cross-sector initiatives that promote public and private efforts to help ensure secure, safe, and reliable critical infrastructure services.

This mission encompasses physical, cyber, and human security that rely on strong infrastructure integrity and resilience. Accordingly, the PCIS mission spans the full spectrum of critical infrastructure matters from prevention, planning, and preparedness to business continuity, mitigation, response, and recovery. PCIS focuses primarily on cross-sector policy, strategy, and interdependency issues affecting the critical infrastructure sectors

PCIS Role in the Public-Private Partnership
The PCIS has been actively involved in encouraging and participating in a productive public-private partnership with the Federal government over the past six years. Its focus is on improving the security and safety of the Nations critical infrastructures by enabling critical infrastructure sectors to work among themselves, as well as work in partnership with the Federal government. PCIS was formally recognized as the Private Sector Cross-Sector Council in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP), released in June 2006. The NIPP states that "cross-sector issues and interdependencies are addressed among the SCCs through the Partnership for Critical Infrastructure Security (PCIS)." (page 5) The interim NIPP, released in February 2005, initially described the functions of the Private Sector Cross-Sector Council, functions that PCIS had been performing as a practical matter. The Sector Partnership Model Implementation Final Report and Recommendations presented by the Sector Partnership Model Working Group of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council in October 2005 recommended that PCIS be formally recognized as the Private Cross-Sector Council. In March 2006, the Sector Partnership Model was further supported when Secretary Chertoff established the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC). National Infrastructure Protection Plan In Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-7, Critical Infrastructure Identification, Prioritization, and Protection, President Bush called for the creation of a "National Plan for Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources Protection" and directed that Federal departments and agencies will identify, prioritize, and coordinate the protection of critical infrastructure and key resources in order to prevent, deter, and mitigate the effects of deliberate efforts to destroy, incapacitate, or exploit them. Federal departments and agencies will work with State and local governments and the private sector to accomplish this objective. PCIS members have participated in discussions and public comment periods in the development of this plan, the NIPP. Members of the PCIS will also work diligently with their Federal government partners on the Sector-Specific Plans (SSPs) that are associated with the NIPP. Additional information on the NIPP, as well as the private sector's role in its development and implementation, can be found in the August 2006 issue of The CIP Report, produced by GMU.

Membership and Leadership
The membership of PCIS includes the leadership from each of the Sector Coordinating Councils, which represent the owners and operators of the critical infrastructure and key resources sectors identified by the government in HSPD-7 . Typically, the chair of the SCC serves as the member representative to PCIS. The PCIS officers, including Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary/Treasurer, are elected annually from within the membership. The current PCIS Chairman is Ken Watson of the Information Technology SCC. Turner Madden of the Commercial Facilities SCC is Vice Chairman, and Kathryn Condello of the Communications SCC serves as the Secretary/Treasurer. Current Sector Representation on PCIS: Banking and Finance Chemical Commercial Facilities Communications Dams, Locks, and Levees Defense Industrial Base Emergency Services Energy — Electricity Energy — Oil and Natural Gas Food and Agriculture Healthcare Information Technology Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste Postal and Shipping Transportation — Highway and Motor Carrier Transportation — Public Transit Transportation — Rail Water
Presidential Strategies Released by The White House
As follow-on documents to the National Strategy for Homeland Security, released in July 2002, two national strategies were released in 2003. The National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets identifies a clear set of national goals and objectives and outlines the guiding principles that will underpin our efforts to secure the infrastructures and assets vital to our national security, governance, public health and safety, economy, and public confidence. The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace is part of our overall effort to protect the Nation. The purpose of this document is to engage and empower Americans to secure the portions of cyberspace that they own, operate, control, or with which they interact. PCIS played a unique role in facilitating the private sector input to this national strategy. In addition, PCIS has analyzed the plans and summarized commonalities in the PCIS Industry Compendium to the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace.

Additional Information

For more information, contact Kathryn Condello PCIS Secretary/Treasurer.

PCIS thanks PricewaterhouseCoopers for their historical support of the the PCIS website.