Purpose and publisher
Nexus Agency is a specialist platform of The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) for competence-based technical assistance, staffing and expert matching. This page sets out who owns and answers for the platform, what it is designed to do, the institutional limits that apply to every engagement and its current operating state. It is written for experts, project sponsors, institutions and programme coordinators deciding whether to engage.
- 01In briefThe short answer
- 02PurposeCompetent people, bounded work, written terms
- 03Publisher and ownershipWho is responsible
- 04Institutional limitsWhat Nexus Agency never does
- 05Key termsTerms used on this page
- 06Operating stateEstablished, opening in stages
GCRI · Established · service level R0
- STEM methods
- 2
- Canonical methods this field applies
- Topics
- 8
- Subject pages in the field
- Counterparts
- 9
- Platforms in shared fields at GCRI, GRF and GRA
- Report series
- 1
- Nexus Reports series it contributes to
The short answer.
Nexus Agency is a specialist platform of The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation for governance and institutions as well as development finance. Its mandate covers competence-based technical assistance, staffing and expert-matching enquiries under explicit terms and mandates. GCRI publishes it, answers for its content and takes no decision on anyone's behalf. It is established and works at service level R0, information and enquiries.
Mandate to authority.
Fig.How the platform is governed, from its mandate to the authorities who decide. Design, not a record.
People and hazards in East Africa.
For purpose and publisher, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on population density, night lights and true-colour imagery, framed on East Africa; 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
People and hazards, for this page
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.
For purpose and publisher, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on population density, night lights and true-colour imagery, framed on East Africa; 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 L2ASources 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
- 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 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
- 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
- NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles 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
- 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
- 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
- True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
- Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
- Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
- Active fires and thermal anomalies, last day: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
Competent people, bounded work, written terms.
The platform exists so that institutions with a mandate for risk and resilience work can obtain specialist support that is scoped, supervised and accountable, and so that experts can contribute under terms that protect them and the people affected by the work.
What it covers
Technical assistance, staffing of assignments, expert matching and interdisciplinary team formation across the fields of the Nexus network.
Who it is for
Eligible experts, project sponsors, institutions and programme coordinators.
What it is designed to publish
Expert pathways, capacity maps and records of legitimate technical assistance enquiries.
Who is responsible.
The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) publishes Nexus Agency and answers for it. GCRI works across Canada and the United States.
- When an assignment is contracted, the written terms name which organization contracts, if any, and in what capacity.
- Many assignments are designed to be contracted by the host or another named organization rather than by GCRI.
- Integrity concerns go to integrity@therisk.global; safeguarding matters to safeguarding@therisk.global.
What Nexus Agency never does.
- It does not regulate, license or certify experts, and a contribution record is not a professional credential.
- It does not procure, finance or take decisions on a host's behalf, and assistance confers no execution authority.
- It does not place anyone in a role that sanctions, eligibility or safeguarding rules prohibit.
- It does not act as the legal parent, treasury, employer or agent of participants unless a written contract says so.
- Financial-sector questions belong with The Global Risks Alliance (GRA), for example Development Finance Nexus, which does not advise on or arrange transactions; governance questions with The Global Risks Forum (GRF), for example Governance Nexus.
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.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Service level R0 | The 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 interest | A situation in which financial, professional or personal interests could compromise, or appear to compromise, judgement in research or review. |
| Technical assistance | Non-financial support such as expertise, training, advice on methods and help with institutional systems, provided at the request of the institution that owns the work. |
| Terms of reference | The document that defines an assignment's objectives, scope, deliverables, counterpart, acceptance criteria and reserved decisions. |
Established, opening in stages.
Nexus Agency is an established platform. The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. Existing activity is confirmed against records before it is listed, and each later stage opens only when its team, terms and review capacity exist.
- 01
R0 now
Enquiries from experts at experts@therisk.global and from institutions at programmes@therisk.global.
- 02
R2 applications
Formal applications with current terms and an appeal route, via open assignments.
- 03
R3 commitments
Written agreements with the correct parties, scope and supervisor.
Questions and answers.
Is Nexus Agency a separate legal entity?
Does registering interest create any obligation?
Who decides whether an assignment goes ahead?
Around Nexus Agency.
Bring your expertise to this field.
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.