Definition of a module
The DSP comprises seven modules that underpin the six key stages and together form an integrated process.
What makes something a module
A module is a set of interconnected tools, models or methods with three things attached to it:
| Requirement | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Specific objectives | The module exists to answer a defined question, not to be a general toolbox |
| Specific inputs and outputs | What it consumes and what it produces are both named |
| Clearly defined information flows | How its outputs reach the rest of the DSP is written down, not improvised |
That third requirement is what makes the set integrated rather than merely collected. A tool whose outputs nobody has defined a route for is not a module.
Modules can be used on their own
This is easy to miss and has real consequences for adoption.
Each module is also a standalone approach
The handbook states that modules "could also be standalone approaches to guide users on specific methods or approaches to expand their existing workflows or analysis and appraisal knowledge."
An organisation does not have to adopt the whole DSP to get value. It can take the Sustainability module alone to strengthen how carbon enters its existing appraisal, and leave the rest. That lowers the barrier to entry considerably.
The seven modules
Asset Registry
Catalogues all existing assets, covering type, location, condition and history. It serves as the central database from which all other analyses are conducted, ensuring asset information is accessible.
Everything else depends on it, which is why it appears at both ends of the master diagram.
Asset Performance
Captures and updates the physical condition of assets, tracking deterioration and deformation as condition degrades over time.
Where the registry records what an asset is, this module records how it is changing.
Risk Assessment
Quantifies risks of failure and disruption, and evaluates the risks of inaction, at asset, system and network levels. The risks in scope include:
- Risks arising from decarbonisation strategies
- Extreme weather
- Climate change
- Other shocks
It also has an engagement dimension that the other modules do not. It involves working with different organisations to understand their risk tolerance, and on that basis identifying and prioritising their risk reduction needs.
Risk tolerance is an input, not a constant
Two organisations facing identical hazard exposure can reach different, equally defensible conclusions because they tolerate risk differently. Making that explicit is why this module engages with organisations rather than only computing.
Resilience
Assesses how different strategies perform and how quickly assets and networks recover after implementation, including under disruptive events.
Note the two distinct questions: performance, and speed of recovery. A network can be strong and slow, or fragile and quick to restore.
Sustainability
Identifies and measures sustainability and environmental goals, in line with net zero, decarbonisation, pollution and biodiversity plans.
Its reach extends beyond measurement into procurement practice. It supports sustainable supply chains and embeds environmental criteria into procurement, design, construction and the asset lifecycle, all within available budgets.
Risk Mitigation
Evaluates the risks, costs and benefits of intervention plans, meaning proactive measures. It combines two techniques:
| Technique | What it produces | |
|---|---|---|
| i | Asset-condition based Risk-Cost-Benefit Analysis | Quantifies and, where possible, monetises environmental, social, economic and cultural impacts |
| ii | Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis | Scores options against the organisation's own objectives and criteria |
On that combined basis it prioritises interventions under legal, financial, economic and time constraints, at asset, system and network levels.
System Interdependencies
Establishes, and where possible quantifies, the relationships between an asset and other assets, networks, users, and its wider context.
It does this for two specific purposes:
- To define the scope or boundary of the assets considered in an investment decision
- To identify the information sources required to support that decision
Two inconsistencies in the source
The module list names "asset condition", the descriptions name "Asset Performance"
The source handbook's summary list of the seven modules reads: asset registry, asset condition, risk assessment, sustainability, risk mitigation, system interdependencies and resilience.
The detailed descriptions immediately below it, and the whole of Technical modules, instead call the second one Asset Performance.
They are the same module. This handbook uses Asset Performance throughout, since that is the name the rest of the source uses. The authors should settle on one.
Risk Mitigation has no section of its own
Six of the seven modules are documented in full in Technical modules. Risk Mitigation is not. It is named and described here, and every other module carries a figure reference, but it has no figure and no section.
Its two techniques are documented, but as part of the technical processes rather than as a module. See Risk Mitigation.