GCRI · Data and Compute
Field overview
The field of data and compute infrastructure covers the systems that collect, store, move, process and preserve data, and the computing capacity that turns data into knowledge. It joins computer engineering, data engineering, networking, physics, energy engineering and governance. It matters because science, public services and risk decisions now depend on it, and because it is concentrated and resource-intensive. This page defines the field and its connections; Data and Compute home links to the topics.
- STEM methods
- 7
- Canonical methods this field applies
- Topics
- 8
- Subject pages in the field
- Counterparts
- 0
- Platforms in shared fields across the network
- Report series
- 2
- Reports series it contributes to
From sensors to supercomputers to archives.
Data infrastructure includes the standards, formats, catalogues, storage systems, access controls and networks that let data be found, accessed, combined and reused. Compute infrastructure ranges from edge devices near where data is generated, through institutional clusters and commercial cloud, to national and regional high-performance computing centres. Between them sit pipelines that transform raw data into analysis and record how it was done.
Experts distinguish capacity (how much computing and storage exists), capability (what workloads it can run, such as large simulations or AI training), access (who can use it, on what terms) and dependency (what it needs to keep running, from power to hardware supply chains to skilled staff).
Connected activity in the contiguous United States.
Night lights, population density and true-colour imagery over the contiguous United States, from NASA GIBS. Each layer carries its own date.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 3
Connected activity, for this page
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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.
Connected activity, framed on the contiguous United States.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.
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 hexagonal 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 hexagonal 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 hexagonal 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 hexagonal 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 hexagonal 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 hexagonal 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 hexagonal 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 hexagonal cells where shown (modified). ODbL
- Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal 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.
- Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
- 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).
- 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
- 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
Core lines of inquiry.
Systems design
How to match workloads to architectures: CPUs, GPUs and accelerators, cloud, edge and on-premises.
Data that combines
Common formats, metadata and semantics that let data from different sources be used together.
Energy and water
The power and cooling that computing needs, and its effects on grids and water resources.
Field overview.
The screen a team would use to follow this subject: its measures, states and decisions. Names are examples and values are illustrative.
Capacity gaps become decision gaps.
A country without access to adequate compute may be unable to run its own weather, climate or epidemic models, relying instead on others' analysis. A research team that cannot reproduce a pipeline cannot defend its result. A public authority whose data cannot be shared securely across departments may act on partial evidence. These gaps are uneven across countries and institutions, and they shape who can produce knowledge and who can only consume it.
How the field links to other risks and institutions.
Within GCRI, the field depends on Energy Nexus for electricity and grid analysis and connects with Cybersecurity and Digital Resilience, which stewards cybersecurity methods, and with Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems. The Energy field gateway shows the energy side.
Data governance and digital rights are convened by The Global Risks Forum (GRF) at AI and Digital Governance. Dependencies and consequences sets out the links in detail.
Pages in Field overview.
Questions and answers.
Is this field mostly about AI?
What is sovereign compute?
Which methods does the field rely on?
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