Overview

Maintaining a running list of resilience gaps identified throughout the TRN modules will help the resilience planning team gain a more comprehensive understanding of the resilience needs of the site. A list of gaps will inform later modules and provide context for brainstorming resilience solutions. Resilience gaps can come in a variety of forms, including technological, operational, or institutional. Examples include gaps in data, equipment capabilities, policies, and training or staffing. The TRN is designed to be an iterative process and the resilience planning team will therefore need to continually revisit and add information on resilience gaps when prompted by “Record Resilience Gaps” call-out boxes during each of the subsequent TRN modules.

In-Depth

Throughout the TRN, the resilience planning team will document data gathered in the worksheets provided. In addition, it is important that the team document any gaps discovered. These gaps play an important role in resilience planning, as they present opportunities for the organization or site to make improvements through targeted action. Gaps may be represented by deficient information, plans, procedures, and capabilities, or could include deficiencies that prohibit the organization or site from reaching desired resilience performance objectives. Additionally, gaps exist where risk exceeds an acceptable threshold, which users may assess in the later Risk Assessment module. Gaps should be documented throughout the TRN, where prompted, and analyzed in the Solution Development module. Gaps collected in the Risk Assessment module are likely to relate to risk drivers identified in this module, which are provided for reference in the Risk Assessment Action 5 worksheet.

Resilience gaps may fall into several categories, and identifying which of these categories best describes the gap can help the resilience planning team identify solutions in the Solution Development module. Resilience gaps will be categorized by their impacted resilience attributes and their gap type:

• Technological: Gaps in physical systems including their availability, design, and performance (e.g., vulnerabilities in the systems that inhibit reliable power to a critical load)
• Operational: Gaps in existing processes or procedures that ensure energy or water availability (e.g., automatic start-up systems for backup generation or training programs for manual start-up systems)
• Institutional: Gaps in organizational or site plans, policies, and other data that have the potential to broadly enhance site resilience.

Identify and Document Gaps

Prompts are included throughout the TRN to indicate where the resilience planning team may need to review information or consider gaps for documentation. Use the table in the Risk Assessment Action 5 worksheet to record gaps throughout the Site-Level Planning, Baseline Development, and Risk Assessment modules. Reference the associated TRN Resource: Resilience Gaps Checklist document for guided questions to help the resilience planning team consider gaps in each of the three modules listed.

After completing the Site-Level Planning, Baseline Development, and Risk Assessment modules, users will be prompted to reassess gaps to identify whether new gaps have been uncovered or whether documented gaps need to be modified. The completed gap worksheet will be used to inform the brainstorming exercises conducted in the Solution Development module. As a starting point, fill out the “Gap Description” and “Type of Gap” columns. For more information on the gap types, refer to the TRN Resource: Categorized Resilience Gaps . The remaining columns can be completed in Action 1 of the Solution Development module.