Interdependent Networks: A Data Science Perspective

Traditionally, networks have been studied in an independent fashion. With the emergence of novel smart city technologies, coupling among networks has been strengthened. To capture the ever-increasing coupling, we explain the notion of interdependent networks, i.e., multi-layered networks with shared decision-making entities, and shared sensing infrastructures with interdisciplinary applications. The main challenge is how to develop data analytics solutions that are capable of enabling interdependent decision making. One of the emerging solutions is agent-based distributed decision making among heterogeneous agents and entities when their decisions are affected by multiple networks. We first provide a big picture of real-world interdependent networks in the context of smart city infrastructures. We then provide an outline of potential challenges and solutions from a data science perspective. We discuss potential hindrances to ensure reliable communication among intelligent agents from different networks. We explore future research directions at the intersection of network science and data science. This article provides a holistic overview of interdependent cyber-physical-societal networks. We envision the subsequent research directions that require contribution of the data science community as well as interdisciplinary collaboration with network scientists, social scientists, computer scientists, and engineers to tackle the emerging problems raised by the notion of interdependent networks: (1) developing novel algorithms for data analytics and enabling interdependent decision making, (2) proposing holistic models that are capable of capturing the interdependence among human-centered multi-layer critical infrastructures, and (3) developing efficient solutions that are capable of finding globally optimum solutions using information from each network as well as modeling the interdependent information exchange. In addition to these directions, we outline policy and access-control issues, including conflict of interest among stakeholders and operators of each network. Successful implementation and development of an interdependent data analytics framework and its required algorithms will improve the quality of life of citizens by enabling globally optimum decision making, increasing efficiency, preserving privacy of intelligent agents, and reducing operational cost of interdependent networks. Further reading: Sustainable Interdependent Networks book series ( inte