[Commentary] With distance from the 2016 presidential and Congressional races, we are beginning to gain perspective on the challenges that lie ahead, including the cybersecurity of our nation’s critical infrastructure. We propose three actions that address the critical cyber vulnerabilities our nation faces:

1) Honestly evaluate our strengths and weaknesses

2) Empower the private sector

3) Facilitate continuous information-sharing

Like Eisenhower’s push to create the interstate highway system, which both fueled innovation and provided new national security capabilities, today’s cyberspace underpins everything from our nation’s energy transmission and national defense, to our individual citizens’ financial and physical wellbeing. In a world where organized crime and adversarial nation-states may have all-too-easy access to our nuclear plants or our patients’ pacemakers, we must foster the public/private partnerships that keep America one step ahead.

[Robert Lord is a fellow at the Institute of Critical Infrastructure Technology, a next-generation cybersecurity think tank. David Mussington is a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and is also the Director, Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise, University of Maryland.]