Technology-Enabled Resilience: Innovations in Critical Infrastructure Protection : From AI-based Situational Awareness to Workforce Upskilling: A Holistic Approach to Critical Infrastructure Protection

This open access book provides an exploration of how technology and innovation are transforming the field of Critical Infrastructure Resilience. The authors cover increasing threats such as cyberattacks, global pandemics like COVID-19, and the complexities of interconnected systems, critical infrastructures—spanning sectors like energy, water management, banking, and industrial operations—face unprecedented challenges. The book delves into cutting-edge solutions enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), advanced risk management techniques, digital twins, and decentralized data systems to enhance resilience. The book also emphasizes the importance of situational awareness, collaborative incident response, and workforce upskilling in addressing these challenges. Several of the chapters of the book illustrate how the integration of technical advancements with human capital development offers a holistic approach to safeguarding the essential systems that underpin modern society. Moreover, the book includes solutions that foster compliance to the mandates of directives and regulations for resilient infrastructures such as the Critical Entities Resilience (CER) directive. Whether you are a researcher, policymaker, or industry professional, this resource equips you with the knowledge to navigate and mitigate risks in an increasingly complex, interconnected and digitalized world. The technologies and solutions that are presented in the book have been developed in the scope of several EU funded projects that focus on the development and validation of innovative approaches for Critical Infrastructure Resilience.

This is an open access book.

John Soldatos holds a PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (2000) and is currently Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow, UK (2014-present). He was Associate Professor and Head of the Internet of Things (IoT) Group at the Athens Information Technology (AIT), Greece (2006–2019), and Adjunct Professor at the Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (2007–2010). He has significant experience in working closely with large multi-national industries (IBM Hellas, INTRACOM S.A, INTRASOFT International S.A, Netcompany S.A) as R&D consultant and delivery specialist, while being scientific advisor to high-tech startup enterprises such as INNOV-ACTS LTD and Alpha Tensor Technologies. Dr. Soldatos is an expert in Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies and applications, including applications in smart cities, finance, and industry (Industry 4.0). Dr. Soldatos has played a leading role in the successful delivery of more than eighty (commercial-industrial, research, and businessconsulting) projects, for both private & public sector organizations, including complex integrated projects. He is co-founder of the open-source platform OpenIoT. He has published more than 220 articles in international journals, books, and conference proceedings. He has also significant academic teaching experience, along with experience in executive education and corporate training. Dr. Soldatos is regular speaker in international conferences, as well as contributor to various international magazines and blogs, on topics related to Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Industry 4.0, and cybersecurity. Moreover, he has contributed to various standardization working groups and expert groups, while he has also been appointed at various boards. He has recently coedited and coauthored ten (10) edited volumes (books) on Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Cybersecurity related themes.

Habtamu Abie, PhD, is Chief Research Scientist and Digital Security Focus Area Leader at the Norwegian Computing Center (NR). He holds B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the University of Oslo. His previous roles include Scientific Associate and Fellow at CERN, researcher at ABB Corporate Research, software engineer at Nera-AS and Alcatel Telecom Norway, and Senior Engineer/Research Scientist at Telenor R&D. Dr. Abie has extensive experience in computing as both practitioner and researcher, with a long track record of building large consortia and leading national and international R&D projects. He currently serves as IT‑OT Integration Focus Area Leader at SFI NORCICS and leads the Norwegian Ecosystem for Secure IT‑OT Integration (NESIOT). He managed the ASSET project (2012–2016), co-leads the CybAlliance project (2023–2028), and has coordinated the European Cluster for Securing Critical Infrastructures (ECSCI), comprising 66 EU-funded projects. He has co-edited elleven books and proceedings, with two more forthcoming in 2026, and has contributed to numerous EU and national projects including GEMOM, uTRUSTit, ASSET, IoTSec, ArsForensica, FINSEC, FAME, ENFIELD, EU‑CIP, CybAlliance, ResCri, and NORCICS. He also co-chairs several international workshops and conferences such as CPS4CIP, SecASure, SecIndustry, SUNRISE, and CyberHunt. Dr. Abie’s research spans adaptive security, adaptive AI for security, critical infrastructure protection, cybersecurity, threat hunting, trust and risk management, IoT, 5G and beyond, and digital twins. He is a member of EURASC, a Senior Member of IEEE, and a Fellow of AAIA and AIIA. He is ranked among the top 0.5% of scholars worldwide by ScholarGPS and is the Lifetime #16 Top Scholar in eHealth.