GCRI · Advanced Industry and Robotics

Spatial intelligenceObservations, models and their uncertainty in one view

Dependencies and consequences

Modern production depends on a web of inputs and services: electricity, gas, water, specialized materials, components, logistics, software and skilled people. Industry in turn supplies other systems and affects the environment around it. When a link fails, effects can travel far from the plant. This page sets out the main dependencies studied on Advanced Industry and Robotics, a platform of The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI).

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01Physical and supply

Inputs that can stop a line.

DependencyHow stress travelsTypical consequence
Electricity and gasSupply interruption or price spikes stop or curtail energy-intensive processesShutdowns, unsafe restarts, lost output
Cooling and process waterDrought, heat or contamination limit intake or dischargeCurtailment and permit constraints
Specialized componentsA single-source supplier fails or is cut offLine stoppages across many firms
Logistics corridorsPorts, canals or roads closeDelayed inputs and outputs, inventory stress
Digital platformsA shared software or cloud provider fails or is compromisedSimultaneous disruption at many sites

These are mechanisms, not measured probabilities. See supplier concentration on Trade and Strategic Resources.

02Canvas

One field, three institutions.

Canvas · one field, three institutionsDesign, not a record
One field, three institutions: Advanced Industry and Robotics and its counterpartsGCRI studies the field as science, GRF governs and convenes it, GRA builds shared financial understanding; the Nexus Universe tests work across them and the competent authorities decide. Design of the arrangement, not a record.

Fig.How GCRI, GRF and GRA share one field while the authorities decide. Design, not a record.

03Economic and social

Effects on jobs, prices and communities.

Production stoppages ripple through supply chains to customers, raising prices and causing shortages far from the original failure. Lean inventories, adopted for efficiency, shorten the time before a supplier's outage becomes a customer's. Industrial towns depend on a few employers, so closures or automation without transition support can hollow out local economies. Investors and lenders hold these exposures too, which is why The Global Risk Alliance (GRA) examines them on industrial and supply exposure.

04Geography

Infrastructure exposure in Germany.

Night lights, population density, flood water and true-colour imagery over Germany, from NASA GIBS. Each layer carries its own date.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 4

Infrastructure exposure, for this page

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

Infrastructure exposure, framed on Germany. Layers as NASA publishes them, each with its own date.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONET · NASA HLS S30Sources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). doi:10.7927/H49C6VHW. CC BY 4.0
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
  • Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
  • Observed (EO): NASA HLS S30 (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026). We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • River discharge forecast, 30 days with range (GloFAS via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Emergency Management Service information 2026; not a flood warning.
  • Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
  • Optional layers (12 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
  • Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
  • Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
  • True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
  • Enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra EVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026

05Ecological and health

Effects beyond the fence.

Accidents

Major releases

Fires, explosions and toxic releases harm workers, neighbours and ecosystems.

Pollution

Chronic emissions

Air, water and soil pollution accumulate over years and affect health unevenly.

Natech

Hazards triggering accidents

Floods, earthquakes and lightning can trigger industrial accidents, compounding disasters.

06Console

Field overview, in outline.

The working screen behind this subject: its structure, terms and states. Names are placeholders and values illustrative.

Field overview: the screen's structure, terms and states for Industry and robotics.Placeholder names and illustrative values; a design, not a record or a live system.
07Method

How dependencies are analysed.

Dependency analysis uses systems engineering to describe system architecture, optimization and operations research to model supply networks, process safety engineering for hazard scenarios and sensors and observation networks for monitoring. Every map states its assumptions, data and limits; see methods and uncertainty. Related pages: field overview and counterparts across the Consortium.

08Questions

Questions and answers.

What is a natech event?
A technological accident triggered by a natural hazard, such as a flood causing a chemical release. Such events combine two emergencies and strain response.
Is a dependency map a forecast?
No. It shows how systems connect and how stress could travel. Scenarios are labelled and carry their assumptions.
Can firms share supplier data safely?
Research is designed so that confidential supplier information is aggregated or protected, and no firm's commercial position is exposed.
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