Continuity Of The Economy (cote)

The term Continuity of the Economy (COTE) refers to planning intended to preserve or rapidly restore essential economic functions and critical services during a catastrophic emergency or severe national disruption. It gives election, security, legal, or technical readers a specific label for the concept rather than a broader everyday meaning.

Continuity of the Economy planning aims to preserve or rapidly restore essential economic functions and critical services after a catastrophic disruption. It focuses on dependencies that support national economic activity, including infrastructure, communications, finance, supply chains, government functions, and private-sector operations, so prolonged failure in one area does not cascade across the economy.

COTE depends on critical-infrastructure resilience because essential economic functions rely on sectors such as energy, communications, transportation, finance, water, and information technology. Resilience measures reduce the likelihood and duration of service loss, while continuity planning identifies priorities, dependencies, workarounds, and restoration sequences needed to keep the wider economy functioning during severe disruption.