ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the concept of public-private partnerships (P3) and how they can have a significant influence in the critical infrastructure protection and critical infrastructure assurance domains. The coming financial crisis in the realm of critical infrastructure assurance and critical infrastructure protection can be linked to what may be described as an emerging perfect storm. With government organizations renewing infrastructure but seeking to avoid significant capital costs, the P3 has risen to a prominent position in some countries. The P3 spectrum describes that range of activities that fall somewhere between the basic contracting services and full divestiture through privatization. There is a paradigm shift from the building of capacity through the P3 efforts, to the management of that capacity that involves greater involvement from the private sector. The balancing point involves the demand being in balance with the capacity when taking into account the need to maintain the resiliency of the overall network delivering the service.
