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GCRICritical InfrastructureIn development
Critical Infrastructure · Mandate and publisher

Mandate and publisher

Critical Infrastructure is published by The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI). Its mandate is the science of lifeline reliability and resilience: how essential services depend on one another, how they fail and how they recover. This page sets out who answers for the platform, whom it serves, what it publishes and the limits of its role. The platform is in development, and the current service level is R0: information and enquiries.

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In this dossier6 parts
  1. 01In briefThe short answer
  2. 02MandateResearch on the systems everything else relies on
  3. 03Community and outputsWho it serves and what it publishes
  4. 04LimitsWhat the platform does not do
  5. 05Key termsTerms used on this page
  6. 06StatusIn development

GCRI · In development · service level R0

STEM methods
12
Canonical methods this field applies
Topics
9
Subject pages in the field
Counterparts
3
Platforms in shared fields at GCRI, GRF and GRA
Report series
2
Nexus Reports series it contributes to
01In brief

The short answer.

Critical Infrastructure is a specialist platform of The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation for critical infrastructure as well as cities and built environment. Its mandate covers reliability and resilience of lifeline infrastructure and the services on which communities and economies rely. GCRI publishes it, answers for its content and takes no decision on anyone's behalf. It is in development at service level R0, and activities open as each is ready.

02Canvas

Mandate to authority.

Canvas · mandate to authorityDesign, not a record
How Critical Infrastructure is governedA mandate sets the platform's scope; an editor and reviewers govern what it publishes; programmes and the community supply the work; the integrity route handles corrections; authority over decisions stays outside. Design of the governance, not a record.

Fig.How the platform is governed, from its mandate to the authorities who decide. Design, not a record.

03Geography

People and hazards in Western Europe.

For mandate and publisher, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on night lights, population density and true-colour imagery with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on Western Europe; 3 further NASA layers wait in the list.

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

Layers 3

People and hazards, 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.

For mandate and publisher, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on night lights, population density and true-colour imagery with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on Western Europe; 3 further NASA layers wait in the list.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 · GDACS · Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A · 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). 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). 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: GDACS (EC JRC / UN OCHA) Events are indicative, not official warnings.
  • Observed (EO): Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026), Microsoft Planetary Computer
  • 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).
  • Optional layers (5 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
  • 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
  • Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
  • Enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra EVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026

04Mandate

Research on the systems everything else relies on.

The platform exists because lifeline engineering, urban planning and transport are usually studied apart, while their failures arrive together. Its mandate covers dependency analysis, cascade modelling and restoration science across electricity, water, telecommunications, transport, healthcare facilities and the built environment.

Transport and mobility is treated as a technical chapter of this platform, set out on the transport and mobility chapter, rather than as a separate site.

The platform stewards three methods in the STEM Commons, reliability and resilience engineering, sensors, IoT and observation networks and communications and network technology, and keeps their canonical pages current for every platform that applies them. Its work is designed to reach readers through the Nexus Reports series, the annual Nexus Universe programme and the counterparts that govern and finance the same systems, including Disaster and Crisis Governance at The Global Risks Forum (GRF) and Development Finance Nexus at The Global Risks Alliance (GRA).

05Community and outputs

Who it serves and what it publishes.

Community

Who takes part

Infrastructure operators, engineers, utilities, asset managers and public planners.

Methods

How it works

Network flow, asset dependency analysis and service restoration modelling.

Outputs

What it publishes

Lifeline dependency map methods and critical-services continuity notes, each with its assumptions and limits.

06Limits

What the platform does not do.

  • It does not regulate, inspect, certify or approve any asset, operator or design.
  • It does not replace engineering codes, operator safety cases or the decisions of competent authorities.
  • It does not publish security-sensitive details of specific facilities.
  • Taking part gives no authority, appointment or influence over findings, and sponsorship confers no editorial control.

GCRI is a research, development and policy institution. It is not a regulator, and its findings carry their methods and uncertainty.

07Key terms

Terms used on this page.

Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.

TermDefinition
Service level R0The current service level of Nexus pages: information and enquiries only. An enquiry receives a reference and a named next step; it creates no membership, contract, assignment or commitment.
Conflict of interestA situation in which financial, professional or personal interests could compromise, or appear to compromise, judgement in research or review.
Critical infrastructureThe physical structures, facilities, networks and assets that provide services essential to the functioning of society and the economy.
LifelineAn infrastructure system, such as power, water or telecommunications, whose service other systems and people need continuously.
08Status

In development.

Critical Infrastructure is in development: its scope and methods are published, and its activities, records and services appear here as each one opens. Governance and corrections follow trust, rights and status. The platform's place in the wider Consortium is described on the Critical Infrastructure home and its scientific scope on the field overview.

09Questions

Questions and answers.

Is Critical Infrastructure a separate organization?
No. It is a specialist platform of The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI), which publishes it.
Can an operator rely on platform notes for compliance?
No. Notes are research evidence. Compliance is determined under the operator's own regulatory regime and engineering codes.
Who can I contact?
Write to contact@therisk.global or see contact the specialist team. The acknowledgement gives a reference and names the next step.
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Around Critical Infrastructure.

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The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.

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