What is Critical Infrastructure?
Critical infrastructure refers to the essential systems and services that keep society functioning. In the United States, the term includes the assets, systems, and networks—both physical and digital—“so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety” (U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, 2021).
Critical infrastructure refers to the essential systems and services that keep society functioning. In the United States, the term includes the assets, systems, and networks—both physical and digital—“so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety” (U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, 2021).
These systems underpin daily life: they deliver electricity and water, enable communications, move goods and people, support financial transactions, provide medical care, and supply food to communities. Because modern infrastructure systems are deeply interconnected, disruptions in one sector can cascade across others—affecting communities, businesses, and national security.
To organize national security and resilience efforts, the U.S. government recognizes 16 critical infrastructure sectors, including energy, communications, transportation systems, healthcare and public health, financial services, water and wastewater, and food and agriculture, among others.
Unlike many national security domains, most critical infrastructure in the United States is owned and operated by the private sector, requiring strong partnerships between industry, government, and the research community to manage risks and ensure resilience.
The Center for Cross-Sector Coordination (CXC) exists to strengthen those partnerships—helping leaders across sectors share information, align strategies, and collaborate on solutions that protect the systems society depends on every day.
Why Critical Infrastructure Is Increasingly Vulnerable
The systems that power modern life are more connected—and more complex—than ever before. Digital technologies, global supply chains, and automation have created enormous efficiencies, but they have also increased the potential for disruption.
Critical infrastructure operators today face a wide range of risks, including cyberattacks, extreme weather, aging infrastructure, geopolitical instability, and supply chain disruptions. Because infrastructure sectors depend heavily on one another, a disruption in one system can quickly cascade into others. For example, energy disruptions can affect communications and healthcare systems, while transportation disruptions can interrupt food and medical supply chains.
The growing interdependence between sectors means that resilience can no longer be addressed in isolation. Protecting critical infrastructure requires coordinated planning, information sharing, and risk management across sectors and organizations.
Why Cross-Sector Coordination Matters
In the United States, the vast majority of critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private companies, while government agencies play key roles in regulation, security, and emergency response. Universities, research institutions, industry associations, and nonprofit organizations also contribute expertise, innovation, and workforce development.
No single organization has full visibility into the risks facing critical infrastructure systems. Effective resilience therefore depends on collaboration across sectors—bringing together leaders to share insights, identify emerging risks, and coordinate solutions.
The Center for Cross-Sector Coordination (CXC) helps make this collaboration possible. By creating trusted forums for dialogue and partnership, CXC connects leaders across sectors to strengthen resilience, improve risk awareness, and protect the infrastructure systems that communities and economies depend on every day.
Learn More:
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience and Critical Infrastructure Sectors.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Glossary: Critical Infrastructure.
USA PATRIOT Act, 42 U.S.C. §5195c (definition of critical infrastructure).
Congressional Research Service. Overview of U.S. Critical Infrastructure Sectors.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP).