Linking health information systems
Routine data from DHIS2 instances, laboratory systems and logistics systems are mapped to shared facility identifiers and to terminologies such as ICD-11, with every transformation logged.
GCRI · Health Nexus
Health data engineering and interoperability
Data engineering, interoperability and stewardship decide whether health evidence can be combined at all. In this field they cover the facility identifiers, terminologies, exchange standards, provenance and access controls that let surveillance, service, supply and environmental data be linked lawfully, reproducibly and without exposing individuals.
01Register
Health data engineering and interoperability on the record.
Method recordSTEM method
- MethodData engineering, interoperability and stewardship
- StewardData and Compute
- Applied inHealth Nexus
- Data4 inputs
- Checks4 validation steps
- Canonical pageSTEM Commons
02Application
What data engineering, interoperability and stewardship does here.
Data engineering, interoperability and stewardship cover the pipelines, standards and governance that make data usable and trustworthy. They determine whether information from different sectors can be combined for joint risk assessment. In health and biosecurity, sound data engineering allows hazard, exposure and financial data to be linked consistently. It supports transparent and repeatable analysis of interconnected risk. The canonical description is on the STEM Commons.
Privacy-preserving publication
Indicators are aggregated, small cells suppressed and disclosure risk assessed before release, so evidence can be shared without identifying patients or small communities.
FAIR metadata and provenance
Each dataset carries metadata on source, licence, collection method and evidence label, following the FAIR principles, so every value can be traced back to its origin.
03Geography
Environmental exposure in Africa.
Population density, night lights and daytime surface heat over Africa, from NASA GIBS. Each layer carries its own date.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 3
Environmental exposure, for this page
About this layer
- Evidence
- Estimated
- Source
- Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (NASA SEDAC (CIESIN, Columbia University))
- Provider
- NASA SEDAC (CIESIN, Columbia University)
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Vintage
- null; Census-based estimate, static (2020)
- Resolution
- about 1 km grid
- Uncertainty
- Census-based estimate of people per square kilometre in 2020, shown as exposure context; not a count of people affected by any hazard.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed
- Source
- VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2) (NASA LAADS DAAC)
- Provider
- NASA LAADS DAAC
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite radiance, corrected for moonlight and atmosphere
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-12
- Resolution
- about 500 m grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite night-time radiance for the date shown; lights are a proxy for electricity use and outages, not a measurement of supply or access.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed (persistent cloud still leaves gaps)
- Source
- VIIRS NOAA-20 Level 3, 8-day (NASA LANCE)
- Provider
- NASA LANCE
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- 8-day; Satellite 8-day composite; persistent cloud still leaves gaps
- Newest at build
- 2026-09-14
- Resolution
- about 1 km grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite skin temperature of the ground over the 8 days ending on the date shown, a heat exposure indicator; not air temperature, heat index or a heat warning.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed
- Source
- VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance (NASA LANCE)
- Provider
- NASA LANCE
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite image
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-14
- Resolution
- about 250 m grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite image. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Modelled (latest year GIBS publishes)
- Source
- MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1) (NASA LP DAAC)
- Provider
- NASA LP DAAC
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- yearly; Satellite classification; latest year GIBS publishes
- Newest at build
- 2024-01-01
- Resolution
- about 500 m grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite land cover classes for the year shown, including croplands; a classification with known errors, not a farm register.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed (clouds leave gaps)
- Source
- VIIRS NOAA-20 Deep Blue AOD (NASA LANCE)
- Provider
- NASA LANCE
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite retrieval; clouds leave gaps
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-14
- Resolution
- about 2 km grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite measure of haze, smoke and dust through the whole air column on the day shown; an exposure indicator, not ground-level PM2.5, an air quality index or a health warning.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
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.
Environmental exposure, framed on Africa.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 JPL OPERA DIST-ALERTSources 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
- 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 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
- 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
- MODIS and VIIRS atmosphere products, NASA LANCE and LAADS DAAC; 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.
- Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
- Observed (EO): NASA JPL OPERA DIST-ALERT (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).
- Air quality forecast, 5 days, PM2.5 (CAMS via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information 2026.
- Past year, daily temperature (ERA5 via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
- 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 (14 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
- Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
- Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- Land surface temperature, day, 8-day composite: VIIRS NOAA-20 Level 3, 8-day, NASA LANCE · 14 Sep 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
- Aerosol optical depth, daily: VIIRS NOAA-20 Deep Blue AOD, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
04Data
What the method consumes.
Datasets and records used by data engineering, interoperability and stewardship on this platform, with the role each plays and the label its values carry. Sources are listed in the source register.
| Data | Role | Label |
|---|---|---|
| National master facility lists | Shared identifiers for linkage | Published statistics |
| DHIS2 metadata and data values | Routine reporting inputs | REPORTED |
| WHO Global Health Observatory API | Reference indicator definitions and published values | Published statistics |
| HL7 FHIR resources from source systems | Standardised exchange of records | REPORTED |
05Twin and cascade simulator
Model health data engineering and interoperability as a system. Run the cascade.
Assembled from the Nexus Standards area profile Health security and One Health: the hazards it names, the systems and sectors that carry the loss, the controls that dampen it and the data that observe it. Choose the components, pick an initiating hazard and step through the cascade. The Map view places the run on an example geography with open data. Every coupling weight is a stated assumption you can change. A teaching model, not a forecast, an assessment or a certification. To model a place of your own choosing, open the full System Builder.
Hazards
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Tuberculosis surge (set off downstream)
- Typhoid and paratyphoid fever (set off downstream)
- Health-system overload (set off downstream)
Systems and couplings
- Health security and One Health
- Biological hazard standards Mechanism
- Biodiversity and nature risk standards Common driver
- Food and agriculture risk standards Mechanism
- Global and systemic risk Cascade
Controls
NS-0Constitution and principlesNS-3Risk record UNIs (grammar, legacy crosswalk, allocation authority)NS-9Contextual UNIs (deployments, instances, programme instances)NS-10Policies and clauses (machine-readable obligations: definition, binding, evaluation and enforcement)NS-11Verification and monitoring (evidence, attestations, zero-trust conformance observation)NRS-H83Hazard family: Health system capacity failure (NHS-1 health.system)NRS-H42Hazard family: Rare and persistent human infections (NHS-1 health.other-human)NRS-H41Hazard family: Animal-to-human spillover (NHS-1 health.zoonotic)NRS-H43Hazard family: Livestock and aquaculture epizootics (NHS-1 health.animal-health)NRS-D3Humanitarian response and resilient recoveryNRS-H46Hazard family: Environmental and product harm to people (NHS-1 health.harm)
Observation
- WHO Disease Outbreak News (listed for reference)
- WAHIS animal health events (listed for reference)
- WorldPop gridded population (listed for reference)
- International Health Regulations capacity and health emergency preparedness
- Percentage of bloodstream infections due to selected antimicrobial-resistant organisms
Example geography
- West Africa: 59 hexagonal cells
- Night lights tonight, outages (VIIRS Day/Night Band), NASA GIBS
- Surface water through cloud, 30 m (OPERA DSWx-S1 radar), NASA GIBS
- Rain rate, last half hour (IMERG), NASA GIBS
06Validation
How results are checked.
Pipelines are tested with automated quality checks, schema validation and lineage audits. Reconciliation against source systems confirms completeness.
| Check | How it is done |
|---|---|
| Reconciliation against source | Totals after transformation are compared with source systems and every difference explained |
| Schema and terminology validation | Records are validated against agreed schemas and code lists before loading |
| Disclosure review | Published outputs are tested for re-identification risk before release |
| Licence and consent audit | Each dataset’s licence and permitted uses are checked before linkage |
Incompatible standards, missing metadata and restrictive licences block integration. Legacy systems and undocumented transformations introduce silent errors.
07Sector signature
The sector signature of health data engineering and interoperability.
The sectors health data engineering and interoperability touches and how strongly they depend on each other: what a study has to observe and model together.
Select corners · hover lines6 / 15 relations
Signature
Health and its partners
Health gives workforce for operations to infrastructure (0.3), farm labour to food (0.3) and utility workforce to water (0.2).
W · E · I · F · H · B
- Sectors
- 4 of 6
- Relations
- 6 of 15
- Coupling
- 0.42 share of total
Strongest relations in play
- Water → Food · irrigation0.8
- Food → Health · nutrition0.7
- Infrastructure → Water · pipes, dams and treatment works0.6
- Water → Health · drinking water and sanitation0.7
08Connections
Topics that rely on this method.
09Methods and evidence
How health data engineering and interoperability is modelled, measured and tested.
The model, its assumptions, its data and its uncertainty, in the form a scientist or engineer would check. Structures follow published methods. The values drawn are illustrative, not findings.
Uncertainty bands
How far the outlook for health data engineering and interoperability could spread, shown as ranges rather than a single line.
- Central estimate
- median of the ensemble
- Ranges
- likely and very likely, in IPCC calibrated language
- Ensemble
- members, scenarios and initial conditions stated
- Read with
- the sensitivity of the result to each input
FAIR guiding principles · GO FAIR and FORCE11W3C PROV · World Wide Web ConsortiumGuidance on consistent treatment of uncertainties · IPCCCEOS Analysis Ready Data · Committee on Earth Observation Satellites
10Stewardship
Who maintains the method.
Data and Compute stewards data engineering, interoperability and stewardship for the Consortium and reviews how it is applied across platforms.
11Process
How the process runs.
Process
Health data engineering and interoperability: Build, sign and accept
An admitted mission becomes a cycle project; the build is pinned, verified and signed, and the Global Risks Forum (GRF) records acceptance for exercise, not permission to deploy.
01 Request and sources
- 01Admitted mission becomes a cycle projectRecord · Universe to FoundryAn admitted mission becomes a cycle project with a decision case.
- 02Qualify data sources and resourcesStep · the Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)GCRI qualifies data sources and resource offers and builds the scenario models. An offer is not an allocation.
02 Build and verify
- 03Source snapshotRecord · NXS-FAC (blueprints, builds and signing)The snapshot pins the commit, dependencies and generator versions.
- 04Build contractRecord · NXS-FAC (blueprints, builds and signing)The build contract declares the artefact kind, environment and reproducibility envelope.
- 05Integrate and buildModel · GCRIGCRI integrates software and data, signs builds, and tests security and interoperability.
- 06Verification suiteGate · NXS-FAC (blueprints, builds and signing)Required and advisory checks stay separate. Reproducibility needs pinned inputs, declared nondeterminism and independent rebuilds.
03 Sign and admit
- 07Sign the exact artefactStep · NXS-FAC (blueprints, builds and signing)NXS-FAC builds, attests and requests a signature via a scoped signer identity. It holds no key material.
- 08Package admissionStep · NXS-NXQ (software, models and capability lifecycle)NXS-NXQ receives the signed package and keeps admission evidence that binds the task, data class, evaluation suite and expiration.
04 Accept
- 09Core Build ReportRecord · GCRIThe Core Build Report is the go or no-go record. Universe assembles the Core and holds the decision for the exercise.
- 10G3 · Build accepted for exerciseGate · The Global Risks ForumGRF records whether the build is accepted for exercise. A signed build or release candidate is not permission to deploy to production.
The programme year · NXS-FAC · UniverseDesigned programme process, not a record of operation. No cycle has run and every programme is at service level R0. A gate is a programme decision, never a public-authority approval, certification or deployment authorisation. The record order follows the Builds and Releases room lists of NXS-FAC.
12Connected
Where this page leads across the Consortium.
13Questions
Questions and answers.
What are the limits of data engineering, interoperability and stewardship in this field?
Incompatible standards, missing metadata and restrictive licences block integration. Legacy systems and undocumented transformations introduce silent errors.
How are results checked?
Pipelines are tested with automated quality checks, schema validation and lineage audits. Reconciliation against source systems confirms completeness.
Are the values on this page real?
The data names, roles and checks are real descriptions of practice. The canvas shows a design of the method’s use, not a run; no result is reported here.
Where else is this method applied?
The canonical method page lists every platform that applies it.
ReportsContribute
Contribute evidence from this page.
Reports is the Consortium’s quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.
GCRIHealth NexusGlobal Sector Risk and ResilienceCountry Systems Risk and ResilienceEvidence Brief
- EmailGateway GW-GCRISend it from this pageEvidence, a correction, a case, a method, a review, a translation or profile input. It arrives tagged with this page, so the editor who owns it receives it.
- ZenodoOpen depositDeposit it and submit to the communityPublish your own record on Zenodo with your ORCID iD, then submit it to the Reports community there. Curators review it; the DOI stays yours.
- ReportsGCRISee every way to contributeThe contribution types, how each is reviewed, what credit you receive, the licence and what is never accepted.
Never send personal data, sensitive infrastructure detail or anything you have no right to share. A contribution is reviewed before use; sending it confers no authorship or editorial rights, and sponsorship never buys a finding.
Health Nexus
Bring a method, a dataset or a question.
Information and enquiries are open today. 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.
Legal
Legal documents.
Maps, data and figures on this site are shown for context and general information. They are not advice, forecasts or warnings; the limits of the information are set out in the Disclaimers and Data Notices.