Conceptual Framework for the Assessment of the Degree of Dependency of Critical National Infrastructure on ICT in Nigeria

Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) are assets that provide core functions to modern society, which failure or incapacitation can adversely affect national security, economic prosperity and wellbeing of citizens. In an evolving digital society, CNI rely heavily on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure to improve productivity, and effectively deliver critical services in timely and cost-effective fashion. However, the underlying ICT infrastructure that drives CNI amplify cyber risks, threats and vulnerabilities exponentially. Consequently, a failure in ICT infrastructure has the potential to affect CNI in an unexpected manner. The risks associated with the use of ICT are dynamic, raising the need for continuous assessment of degree of ICT dependency. Presently however, there is rarely a framework nor a publicly available tool in Nigeria that can quantitatively gauge the degree of CNI dependency on ICT. The study addresses this gap by the development of a conceptual framework that can facilitate the assessment of the degree of CNI dependency on ICT. In this study, existing relevant documents on critical infrastructure, ICT frameworks and standards and critical process engineering principles were scanned, analysed and synthesised to conceptualise the framework, and the construction of the building blocks, metrics and indicators. The framework was tested using a hypothetical discrete dataset. The outcome further facilitated the framing of ICT Dependency Index (IDI), a predefined quadrant, of which the computation of Dependency must fall within one of the quadrants.