Two Indian-American executives are among those appointed by US President Joe Biden to the country’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council, that advises the White House on how to strengthen critical infrastructure sectors.
Manu Asthana is the chief executive officer of PJM International, an organisation that coordinates the movement of electricity in 13 US states. The second appointee, Madhu Beriwal, is the founder of Innovative Emergency Management (IEM) — a company that assists government agencies with disaster preparedness, homeland security, public health and cybersecurity.
As the head of PJM, Asthana oversees the biggest power grid in North America. He has 21 years of experience in the fields of power generation operations, competitive retail electricity, electricity and natural gas trading, optimisation and dispatch and risk management.
Beriwal, meanwhile, has expertise in information technology, homeland security, national defence and disaster and emergency management. Her organisation is the biggest woman-owned homeland security and emergency management firm in the US.
The IEM founder was the architect of Hurricane Pam exercise — a federally-funded exercise to prepare for a catastrophic hurricane in Louisiana.
“In their 2006 report on Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Senate referred to “Hurricane Pam” as “a unique planning endeavor that resulted in functional plans that were … actually put to use in real-life situations before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina,” the IEM website said.
The National Infrastructure Advisory Council, of which Asthana and Beriwal will be members, was set up in 2001.
The council has done research in coordinating response during threats and disasters, improving sharing of intelligence and identifying and reducing complex cyber risks, among other fields.
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