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GCRICybersecurity and Digital ResilienceIn development
Innovation and practical technology

Innovation and practical technology

Technology relevant to cyber and digital resilience and critical infrastructure: what it can do, the constraints it faces and its consequences for people and institutions.

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Publisher
The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation
Field
Cyber and digital resilience, Critical infrastructure
Canvas · draft to published versionDesign, not a record
Innovation and practical technology: an innovation through readiness gatesAn idea is tested as a concept, validated in the lab, piloted with an owner under safeguards and reviewed for adoption; each gate asks for evidence of effect, safety and cost before the next stage. Design of the process, not a record of a run.

Fig.How a finding is reviewed before it is published. Design, not a record.

01In brief

The short answer.

Innovation at Cybersecurity and Digital Resilience is the evaluation of technology relevant to cyber and digital resilience: the need it addresses, the evidence behind it, its constraints and its consequences for safety, rights and the environment. Promising work can be built in Nexus Foundry and tested in Nexus Universe; nothing is called proven before test and review, and no product is endorsed.

02Geography

Connected activity in Europe.

For innovation and practical technology, 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 Europe; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.

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

Layers 3

Connected activity, 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 innovation and practical technology, 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 Europe; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer 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 · 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.
  • 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 (35 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
  • Enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra EVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Vegetation greenness (NDVI), rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra NDVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026

03Approach

Evaluate before adopting.

  1. 01

    Need

    Which problem does the technology address, and for whom?

  2. 02

    Evidence

    What has been demonstrated, under what conditions, and what remains untested?

  3. 03

    Constraints

    Cost, skills, infrastructure, data and governance requirements.

  4. 04

    Consequences

    Effects on safety, rights, equity and the environment.

04Technologies under assessment

What could change cyber practice, and what it still has to show.

TechnologyWhat it could changeWhat remains to be shown
Software bills of materials at scaleFaster response to component vulnerabilitiesAdoption and accuracy
Memory-safe languagesFewer exploitable bugsMigration cost of legacy code
Zero-trust architecturesLess lateral movement after compromiseImplementation complexity
Post-quantum cryptography deploymentProtection against future decryptionInventory and migration effort
05Build and test

From idea to tested capability.

Promising work can be built in Nexus Foundry and tested under controlled conditions through Nexus Universe. No technology is described as proven before it has been tested and reviewed.

06Key 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
Technology readiness levelA scale from basic principles to proven operation that describes how mature a technology is.
Responsible innovationAnticipating and governing the effects of new technology together with society.
TestbedA controlled setting, from a lab rig to a field site or sandbox, for trying a technology before it meets real conditions of use.
Operational technologyHardware and software that monitor and control physical devices and processes.
07Sources

Where this page's references lead.

The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.

08Questions

Questions and answers.

Does the platform endorse products?
No. It evaluates technologies and publishes what it finds, with limits. It does not endorse, certify or recommend products or vendors.
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