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What’s new: An interesting paper sent to us by member Alexander Parolini that offers a new take on what our over-dependence on GNSS means.
Why it’s important: His paper addresses “…unpriced systemic risk — one with no analog in any other class of critical infrastructure — and that the institutional mechanisms to price and address it do not currently exist.”
What else to know: See Alexander’s bio and contact info at the bottom of this post.
THE HIDDEN LOAD-BEARER
Why GNSS Timing Infrastructure Is Catastrophically Undervalued Relative to Its Economic Load
Alexander Parolini
Position Paper • March 2026 • Submitted for Review
| EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is not primarily a navigation technology. It is the invisible clock that synchronizes global telecommunications, financial markets, power grids, and supply chains. The economic value it generates is measured in trillions. The annual investment protecting the geodetic ground infrastructure that underpins it is measured in tens of millions. This paper argues that this gap constitutes a formally unpriced systemic risk — one with no analog in any other class of critical infrastructure — and that the institutional mechanisms to price and address it do not currently exist. |
Alexander Parolini is an independent researcher focused on complex systems, systemic risk, and cross-domain hypothesis testing. His recent work centers on GNSS timing infrastructure as an unpriced systemic risk across critical sectors — including power grid operations, financial settlement systems, and reinsurance exposure — drawing on primary sources from RTI International/NIST, The Brattle Group, EUSPA, the U.S. GAO, and the National Academies. More broadly, his research explores geophysical patterns, atmospheric dynamics, and computational analysis to identify underlying structures in natural phenomena. With a self-directed background spanning mathematics, computational modeling, and theoretical physics, Parolini synthesizes ideas across disciplines to generate novel insights and testable research concepts. He can be reached at: [email protected]
