We are adopting a systematic and defined perspective that allows us to look across disciplines and sectors. Our mission is to be a catalyst for new ways of planning, designing and building infrastructure that are responsive to the demands of evolving social conditions and values. ICIS will spark the management and renewal of compatible infrastructure that shapes and supports society. NSF's Civil Infrastructure Initiative initiated the idea of ICIS after holding several workshops and funding research in this area. The boundary for the set of things covered by the term infrastructure is ultimately subjective.
Values can change, and infrastructure changes with it.
We used to build dams, now we take them down to restore the natural ecology. Infrastructure is often used as a political expression. The systems perspective is critical to the effective performance of infrastructure. We will have a major review of these underway in ICISthat will reorient these protocols in light of customer needs and community impacts. ICIS will be developing networks for the purpose of bringing in multiple stakeholders, building constituencies, and using a constituency building process to realize a vision of infrastructure that is integrative and more encompassing.