GCRI
Innovation and technological change
Technologies converge faster than institutions can evaluate them. AI meets biotechnology, computing meets the grid, satellites meet insurance. The same convergence creates capability and exposure at once. The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) helps countries assess, test and adopt technology on evidence, not promise. Start with converging technologies or the frontier technology guide.
01Workspace
The workspace for innovation and technological change.
GCRI · GCRI · Innovation pipelineIllustrative
Innovation pipeline
GCRI · Stage gates · Example interface, not a record
Gate review in 7 dGCRI · GCRI
By readiness level
TRL 2 to 301
Report edition planningconcept tested
TRL 4 to 502
Country programme formationlab validation
Methods review cyclelab validation
TRL 6 to 701
Annual mission designpilot with owner
Adoption review01
National Model buildowner decides
Readiness criteria
pilot vs gate
Pilot issues
- I-1Data licence for pilot siteTo check1 d
- I-2Observer protocol signedDone6 d
GCRI · Innovation pipeline. Innovation pipeline: example names and illustrative values, not a record.
02Two sides
The same technology can strengthen a system and expose it.
Opportunity
Capability and productivity
Better forecasting, earlier detection, resilient design, new industries and public services that reach more people.
Exposure
Dependence and new failure
Concentration on a few providers, software supply chains, energy and water demand, misuse and failures that spread through shared platforms.
Institutions
The capacity to decide
Ministries, regulators and operators need evidence on readiness and limits before they adopt, procure or govern a technology.
03The frame in 2026
The governance instruments that now shape how frontier technology is adopted.
| Instrument | Body and date | What it sets |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial Intelligence Act | European Union, Regulation 2024/1689, applying in phases from 2025 | Risk-based obligations for AI systems and general-purpose AI models placed on the EU market |
| Framework Convention on AI and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law | Council of Europe, opened for signature in 2024 | The first binding international treaty on AI, for its parties |
| Recommendation on AI | OECD, 2019, revised 2024 | Principles adopted by member and adherent governments |
| Recommendation on the Ethics of AI | UNESCO, 2021 | Values and policy areas for all UNESCO member states |
| Post-quantum cryptography standards | NIST, 2024 | Algorithms for the migration away from vulnerable public-key schemes |
| Guidance framework for the responsible use of the life sciences | WHO, 2022 | Biorisk management across research and innovation |
These are cited as the frame institutions work in. GCRI interprets none of them for a client and claims conformity with none.
04GCRI’s part
Assessment, testing and country capability, feeding the Exponential Technology series.
GCRI assesses technology claims, tests in controlled settings through Labs and helps countries build the capability to adopt technology on evidence. It funds no ventures and approves no products. Findings are designed for the Exponential Technology series and test results for the Labs Evidence series. Software and models would carry bills of materials and model cards under NS-12 of the proposed Nexus Standards. Researchers and providers can contribute evaluation protocols, negative test results and field evidence of adoption.
05What GCRI does
From claims about technology to evidence about it.
- 01
Explain
Plain descriptions of what a technology does, its maturity and its dependencies, in the frontier technology guide.
- 02
Assess
Readiness, validation and capability claims examined against stated evidence, described under technology assessment.
- 03
Test
Controlled experiments and testbeds through Labs, where results are recorded with their method and limits. Testing is not accreditation.
- 04
Apply
Technology linked to productive capacity, health and public services, under science for economic and social development.
06Across the programme
Governance and finance perspectives sit with the other pillars.
Principles for safe, rights-respecting use are on responsible technology. The Global Risks Forum (GRF) examines how institutions govern digital systems and AI under digital and AI governance. The Global Risks Alliance (GRA) examines what technology change means for financial institutions under financial technology and transformation.
GCRI does not endorse products or vendors, and no assessment is a certification or an approval for use.
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.
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the Artificial Intelligence Act
- Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law (CETS No. 225, 2024)
- OECD Recommendation of the Council on Artificial Intelligence (2019, revised 2024)
- UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (UNESCO, 2021)
- NIST FIPS 203, 204 and 205, post-quantum cryptography standards (NIST, 2024)
- WHO Global guidance framework for the responsible use of the life sciences (WHO, 2022)
- NS-12, Software, model and AI/ML artefacts, a proposed standard
08Pages
Pages in Innovation and technological change.
09Questions
Questions and answers.
Does GCRI build technology?
GCRI’s development work centres on the shared Foundry environment, reproducible tools and testbeds. Its innovation pages explain and assess technologies more broadly, including ones GCRI does not build.
Can a company have its product assessed?
Technology and infrastructure providers can respond to testbed calls or offer resources through the Work with GCRI routes. Any evaluation follows a documented plan, and testing is never presented as accreditation or endorsement.
Which technologies are covered?
The frontier technology guide covers artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnology, space and Earth observation, robotics and computing, linked to the specialist platform of each field.
How does this relate to the Reports programme?
Reviewed findings on technology can be published through Reports, including the Exponential Technology series, with methods, sources and corrections. A planned report is not shown as released.
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.
GCRI
- 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.
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