Innovation in Machine Intelligence for Critical Infrastructures

Dear Colleagues,

Critical infrastructures are among the cornerstones that support modern daily living through the variety of essential services offered to their end-users. Water and gas utility networks, transportation networks (e.g., airports, rail stations), communication networks, and the smart electric power grid are prominent cases of critical infrastructures. The rapid advancements in heterogeneous sensor development, sensor data acquisition, transmission and processing, and the Internet of Things, have created new possibilities for growth within critical infrastructures, but also new risks in terms of theses infrastructures’ vulnerability versus attacks. For example, the increased penetration of renewable sources, cloud storage, controllable loads, such as plug-in electric vehicles, require new approaches for optimal resource management that ensure security and privacy while yielding system-wide benefits. At the same time, the latest developments in machine learning and intelligent information processing act as an enabler for innovative methods to support dynamic system requirements and complex infrastructure dependencies with evolving characteristics, and ensure the safety and security of such infrastructures from both cyber and physical points of view. This Special Issue will feature key innovations in artificial intelligence, machine learning, signal and information processing put forward to advancing the design, analysis, optimization, operation and protection of critical infrastructures.