riskides

Riskides are discrete units used in risk analysis to represent a single, well-defined element within a larger model. Each riskide encapsulates a specific risk factor and its core attributes, typically including likelihood, potential impact, and duration of exposure. By isolating risks into modular components, analysts can assemble complex risk profiles and track how changes in one element influence the overall assessment.

The term riskide was introduced in risk engineering literature in the early 2010s as a neologism that combines risk with the -ide suffix used in scientific terminology to denote a component part. The noun form is riskide; the plural is riskides.

A riskide has an identifier, a category (such as financial, operational, or safety), a probabilistic score, and a contextual dependency map that links it to other riskides. Scores are typically expressed on a common scale and may be updated as new data arrive. The dependency map captures how the riskide interacts with others, including potential cascading effects.

Aggregation of riskides follows the model choice: additive, multiplicative, or hybrid methods, with dependencies captured through correlation or conditional probability. This modular approach supports scenario analysis and sensitivity testing.

Applications include enterprise risk management, project risk tracking, and critical infrastructure modelling, where riskides enable rapid recomputation of risk profiles under alternative conditions. They are particularly useful for maintaining transparent, auditable risk dashboards and for communicating complex risk interdependencies to stakeholders.

Examples include riskides for supply-chain disruption, cyber security breach, and regulatory change, each with estimated likelihoods, impacts, and interdependencies. Limitations include potential oversimplification of interactions, data quality requirements, and the challenge of accurately specifying dependencies; riskides are a modeling tool and should be used alongside qualitative assessment. See also risk assessment and network modelling.