The Global Risks Forum (GRF)
Leadership, dialogue and the annual programme
GRF convenes leaders and governs the Nexus Universe programme. GCRI provides only its technical office. See how to take part at GRF.
Programmes Services Technical assistance
What GCRI offers
Programmes that turn risk questions into tested work.
The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) organizes its services as programmes. GCRI programmes are designed to provide research, risk technology and intelligence, policy research, technical assistance and national programme formation to governments, international institutions, operators and research teams, each with a defined scope, a named accountable party and a stated boundary. Today, GCRI takes information requests and enquiries.
- For
- Governments, UN and development institutions, operators, universities and technology teams
- Delivered by
- GCRI Canada as global contracting party, with GCRI US within its own scope
- Cost
- Set in written terms for each scope; no fee schedule is published
- Open now
- Information and enquiries, each with a reference
Research workbenchIllustrative interface; placeholder values, not a live service.
01In brief
The short answer.
GCRI programmes are the ways the institution turns evidence into capacity: research, technical assistance, early warning support, innovation challenges, the Academy, guilds, campaigns, expert support through Nexus Agency and the technical office of Nexus Universe. Each programme lists only what has a record, and the current service level is R0, information and enquiries.
02The offers
Six programmes and one technical office.
Each offer is designed to start from a question a competent institution needs answered and to end with a defined product handed to that institution. Choose the one closest to your question; the detail of each follows below.
Research
Research programmes
Country baselines, systemic risk science and reviewed publications.
Country profileMethods paper
Technology
Risk technology and intelligence
Data, compute and AI environments and critical-infrastructure resilience.
Estate assessmentDependency atlas
Policy
Policy research and standards
Technical options for public decisions and interoperable methods.
Options briefMethods profile
Assistance
Technical assistance
Bounded capacity-building under a defined scope and counterpart.
Work briefHandoff
Formation
National programme formation
From a first enquiry to a constituted National Nexus programme.
Formation dossier
Gateways
Labs, Academy and Agency
Testbeds, learning and competence-based expert support.
Test protocolLearning plan
The Nexus Universe technical office supports the annual programme that The Global Risks Forum (GRF) governs; it is described in the last tab below.
03Each offer in detail
Who it is for, what is done and what you receive.
For each offer: the audience, the problem, the work, what the participant receives and contributes, and the boundary that limits it. Terms common to every offer follow in section 03.
Research programmes
| Who it is for | National governments, central agencies, research institutes and statistics and hydrometeorology agencies |
|---|---|
| The problem | Which systems matter most, where material dependencies and evidence gaps lie, and what can responsibly be concluded |
| The work | Scope national and subnational systems, qualify sources, map dependencies, separate data reported by authorities from estimates, run domain and editorial review |
| You receive | A baseline country profile, a national systems model, an evidence-gap register, methods papers and, after review, reports |
| You contribute | A named counterpart, access to sources you hold under a rights schedule, and reviewers for country findings |
| Boundary | A country profile does not imply a government commission, and no one can pay for a favourable editorial position |
Risk technology and intelligence
| Who it is for | Governments, utilities and infrastructure operators, sector ministries, computing centres and research networks |
|---|---|
| The problem | How a shock could propagate through essential services, and what technical environment can support national work without needless dependency |
| The work | Build sector dependencies and controlled stress tests; assess data location, interoperability, security, workforce, model rights and exit; design a bounded environment in Nexus Foundry |
| You receive | A sector dependency atlas, scenarios, an estate assessment, a data and compute architecture and a portability package |
| You contribute | An authorized information scope, operator assumptions and staff time for review and rehearsal |
| Boundary | Nexus gains no control of operational technology; a blueprint is not an installed environment and requested capacity is not allocated capacity |
Policy research and standards
| Who it is for | Ministries, regulators, regional bodies, standards bodies and professional societies |
|---|---|
| The problem | Which technical options are available for a public decision, and how data and methods can work across institutions and borders |
| The work | Evidence reviews, options analysis with limitations, interoperability protocols and methods profiles, prepared with the institution that decides |
| You receive | Options briefs, a scoped methods or interoperability profile, and reusable artifacts where licensed |
| You contribute | The decision context, the mandate holder and review of drafts |
| Boundary | GCRI supplies options, not decisions; completing a test or profile is not accreditation |
Technical assistance
| Who it is for | Public institutions, national and regional consortiums, and development and humanitarian organizations |
|---|---|
| The problem | A specific capability gap: methods, data stewardship, preparedness analysis or programme operations |
| The work | Bounded capacity-building under a defined scope, counterpart, data arrangement and next-step authority |
| You receive | A domain work brief, supervised work products, training where agreed and a reviewed handoff |
| You contribute | A counterpart with authority over the scope, staff to be trained and the data the work needs |
| Boundary | Technical assistance is not procurement, financing or execution authority |
National programme formation
| Who it is for | Governments and national institutions considering a National Nexus programme |
|---|---|
| The problem | How to establish a nationally owned programme with clear accountability, safeguards and resources |
| The work | Exploration, then a formation dossier: local ownership model, host options, first risk questions, safeguards, resources and exit conditions |
| You receive | A scoping note, an authority map, a first-quarter baseline plan and a decision on whether to proceed |
| You contribute | Nationally accountable counterparts and a view of domestic resources |
| Boundary | A research profile or enquiry is not a constituted programme; national adoption is a separate decision of the competent authority |
Labs, Academy and Agency
| Gateway | What it offers | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Nexus Labs | Testbeds that check whether a technology solves the intended problem under representative conditions: protocol, measured evaluation, failure cases and a transition recommendation | Testing is not a regulatory sandbox, an accreditation or a procurement status, and sponsorship has no say in a result |
| Academy | Leadership baselines, specialist learning, mentoring and supervised work for leaders, experts and students | A learning record is not a professional licence or a promise of employment |
| Nexus Agency | Competence-based technical assistance and expert-matching enquiries, with conflict checks and supervision | Matching is an enquiry route, not an appointment or a contract |
Nexus Universe technical office
| Who it is for | Mission teams, computing and network contributors, and hosts taking part in the annual programme |
|---|---|
| The problem | Which of the year's missions need temporary technical intensity and a controlled environment in which to be tested |
| The work | Mission scoping, data and method qualification, the Core build, exercise control support and evidence capture |
| You receive | A mission scope, qualification records, build and exercise evidence and an improvement backlog |
| You contribute | A qualified mission team, or a resource offer with its owner, constraints and availability window |
| Boundary | GRF governs the programme; neither membership nor sponsorship secures a compute allocation, and an offer is not an allocation |
Programme governance, editions and participation are set out on the Nexus Universe gateway at GRF and the Nexus Universe website. The annual cycle ends in a planned stand-down; review, reconciliation and corrections continue afterwards.
04Terms for every offer
Cost, accountability, rights and exit, stated before work begins.
These terms apply to every programme above. The written agreement for a scope restates them for that engagement.
| Topic | How it works |
|---|---|
| Cost | Determined in the written terms for each scope under GCRI's not-for-profit model. Any fees support operation and are not donations. Cooperation with governments and public institutions never depends on buying a membership tier, and ordinary working-group participation has no fee. |
| Who is accountable | GCRI Canada, as global contracting party, for the agreed scope; GCRI US for work within its own scope. Decisions taken on the evidence remain with the competent authority. |
| Access and rights | National programmes keep their agenda, data and decision rights. A rights schedule separates background material, joint results, third-party material and protected community knowledge. |
| Available now | Information and enquiries. Enquiries receive a reference. Applications, payments and computing allocations open only when their team, terms and review capacity are in place. |
| The next step | Normally a scoping conversation. No response time is promised at the current service level; the acknowledgement gives a reference and names the next step. |
| If it fails | A decision not to proceed is recorded with its reasons. Failed tests produce documented failure cases, and negative findings can be published. |
| Leaving or raising a concern | Participants may withdraw under the agreed exit conditions; withdrawal does not erase other parties' lawful work. Concerns and complaints go to integrity@therisk.global, as set out on Trust and integrity. |
05How an engagement runs
From enquiry to handoff, each step recorded.
Every programme is designed to follow the same sequence. Each step produces a record, so the work can be reviewed, continued by others or stopped cleanly.
- 01
Enquiry
You write to the Secretariat or a regional desk and receive a reference.
Open now - 02
Scoping
The question, the counterpart, the data and the authority for the next step are agreed.
- 03
Terms
A written agreement with the correct parties, scope, rights, cost and exit conditions.
Opens with service capacity - 04
Work and review
The work is done in Nexus Foundry and reviewed on method by qualified, conflict-managed reviewers.
- 05
Handoff
The product passes to the institution that decides, with its limits stated beside its findings.
Process canvas · the cycle as a run graphDesign, not a record
Fig.A computational graph of the Nexus cycle: nodes with their type, metrics and state, connectors for what feeds what, the owners as groups, the year as a run timeline. Design, not a record of a run.
06Where other institutions lead
What GCRI does not offer, and who does.
GCRI leads research, technology and policy research. Two other pillar institutions lead the work that follows from the evidence.
The Global Risks Alliance (GRA)
Finance, insurance and development readiness
GRA translates evidence into the questions financial institutions ask; it does not lend, underwrite, rate, invest or approve. See finance readiness at GRA.
GCRI does not fund, invest in, procure for or approve projects, issue warnings, or act as an emergency service.
07Key terms
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this institution uses it on this page.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Technical assistance | Bounded capacity-building under a defined scope, with a named accountable party; it never includes procurement, financing or execution authority. |
| National Nexus | The complete country operating programme of Nexus Consortiums, owned by national counterparts and supported technically by GCRI. |
| Nexus Reports | One governed publication programme: quarterly country editions, an annual flagship and specialist series, each versioned with its corrections. |
| Service level R0 | The current level of service: information and enquiries. Applications, payments and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist. |
08Questions
Questions about GCRI programmes.
How much does a GCRI programme cost?
There is no published fee schedule. Cost is set in the written terms for each scope, under GCRI's not-for-profit model, and any fees support operation rather than being donations. Cooperation with governments and public institutions never depends on buying a membership tier.
Which GCRI organization will I contract with?
GCRI Canada is the global contracting party in support of the national and regional consortiums, so it is normally the party to an agreement. GCRI US, the United States institution of GCRI and a separate organization with its own legal identity, acts within its own scope. The scoping note names the organization for your engagement.
Can GCRI help us secure finance for a resilience project?
GCRI can prepare the technical evidence, such as exposure, scenarios and evidence states. Translating it into finance-readiness questions is led by The Global Risks Alliance, and lending, underwriting and investment decisions remain with licensed financial institutions.
Who owns the results?
A rights schedule agreed at the start separates background material, joint results, third-party material and protected community knowledge. National programmes keep their data and decision rights, and publication follows review and those rights.
Can a programme start now?
The current service level is information and enquiries. An enquiry sent today receives a reference, and the acknowledgement names the next step; agreements, payments and computing allocations open only when their team, terms and review capacity are in place.
What happens if the work does not succeed?
A decision not to proceed is recorded with its reasons, failed tests produce documented failure cases, and negative findings can be published. You may also withdraw under the exit conditions agreed in the terms.
Related
More on GCRI programmes and the other pillar institutions.
Consortium Secretariat
Bring a question; leave with a defined first outcome.
The Secretariat confirms the right offer, the scope of useful work and the conditions for any further commitment. An enquiry receives a reference; it does not create a service contract.