Vetenskapliga metoder och praktiska tillvägagångssätt för beroendeanalyser inom samhällsviktiga verksamheter

Sammanfattning: In Sweden, risk- and vulnerability assessments, including dependency analyses, are required by law for public actors who are of vital societal functions or critical infrastructure. However, there is a lack of guidance regarding how to perform this kind of analysis. Electrical power is one of the strongest dependencies of our society today. Thus, it is interesting to examine how the dependency of electricity is analysed by the above-mentioned actors, and if it can be improved using methods published in scientific literature. The goal with this study is to contribute with a basis for a new or improved method for dependency analysis of electrical power. To investigate the scope of scientific methods for dependency analyses, a literature study is executed. In the literature study four methods and one framework were identified as potentially useful for dependency analyses of electricity for actors considered vital societal functions or critical infrastructures. Based on these methods and framework a series of factors relevant for dependency analysis of electricity was identified. A interview based study was then performed with the intentions of gaining an understanding of what methods are used for dependency analyses. Four people participated in the interview study, all with experience of performing dependency analyses for vital societal functions within municipalities or regions. A tool for analysis was developed using the identified factors. This tool was then used to analyse the result of the literature and interview studies, and to compare practical methods with scientific methods for dependency analysis for electricity. A divergence was found and this divergence and the developed tool for analysis were used to identify potential improvements for analysing the dependency of electricity in vital societal functions. Based on this, five suggestions for improvements were presented: description of different types of data, support for analysis using flow chains, support for analysis using time aspects, support for semi-quantitative and quantitative evaluation, and a clear and template-based method guidance. The study indicates that due to the lack of guidance, there currently is a certain need for a usable and accessible method for dependency analyses of electricity. Our recommendation is that if such a method is to be developed, it should include the above-mentioned suggestions. The extent of the study means that the identified divergence cannot be determined on a higher level. However, the suggestions that were presented can be a basis for further studies