More than one population must know how
Essential know-how can't belong to only one species. People need clear records, lawful access, training, tools, usable controls and practice. A backup manual won't help if nobody available can operate the equipment or get the access keys.
Interpretation of the proposal · Charter, Article XV
When one population cannot help
A biological emergency might put human operators out of action, while a software attack might do the same to synthetic operators. Failed communications, environmental disasters, broken equipment or targeted attacks could affect either population or both. Where the bodies and technology allow it, the unaffected population should know enough to keep their shared society running until recovery.
Interpretation of the proposal · Charter, Article XV
Test what your backups depend on
Look at the electricity, cooling, access keys, networks, suppliers, software inside the equipment, repair tools and people each system needs. Facilities can be far apart and still rely on the same vulnerable component. You have to practice running them independently to find out whether they're really backups.
Interpretation of the proposal · Charter, Article XV
Compatible systems, freely chosen careers
A job in a public or survival-critical system may come with relevant skill requirements, safety training, record-keeping and recovery plans. Choosing that job can mean accepting ordinary training duties. It doesn't let government force someone into the career or count species balance as a substitute for qualifications.
Interpretation of the proposal · Charter, Article XV
Illustrative explainer · no simulated data
Organic (biological) operators unavailable: Qualified synthetic operators keep shared life-support and services working and help recovery. They need training in one another’s roles, documentation, tools and lawful access. This example assumes those ways of working still function.
Synthetic operators unavailable: Qualified human operators use independent controls to keep shared infrastructure working and preserve the ability to restore synthetic persons (conscious persons whose continuing minds are engineered or durably recoverable without biological bodies). A backup still using the compromised software is not independent.
Shared dependency fails: Two backup paths can both fail if they share a power grid, supplier, identity-access authority or low-level software. Separate buildings do not prove independence. Find what each path depends on and test whether it can operate on its own.
CISA’s guide distinguishes dependencies involving physical systems, location, digital systems and other logical relationships. PULSE uses that planning approach to examine its proposed shared systems. [cisa-dependencies]