The Global Risks Forum (GRF)
Policy, governance and the annual programme
GRF convenes leaders and governs the Universe programme. GCRI provides only its technical office. See how to take part at GRF.
Programmes· Services· Technical assistance
What GCRI offers
Programmes that turn risk questions into tested work.
The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) is the Consortium’s technical office. Its programmes deliver research, risk technology, policy research, technical assistance and national programme formation. Each has a defined scope, a named accountable party and a stated boundary, and ends with a product handed to the institution that decides.
- For
- Governments, UN and development institutions, operators, universities and technology teams
- Delivered by
- GCRI Canada as lead contracting organisation; GCRI US within its own scope
- Cost
- Set in written terms for each scope; no fee schedule is published
- Open now
- Information and enquiries, each with a reference
GCRI · Research workbenchIllustrative
Research workbenchIllustrative interface; example values, not a live service.
01The offers
Six programmes and one technical office.
Each offer starts from a question a competent institution needs answered and ends with a defined product in its hands. Pick the one closest to your question; the detail follows.
Research
Research programmes
Country baselines, systemic risk science and reviewed publications.
Country profileMethods paper
Technology
Risk technology and intelligence
Data, compute and AI environments and critical-infrastructure resilience.
Estate assessmentDependency atlas
Policy
Policy research and standards
Technical options for public decisions and interoperable methods.
Options briefMethods profile
Assistance
Technical assistance
Bounded capacity-building under a defined scope and counterpart.
Work briefHandoff
Formation
National programme formation
From a first enquiry to a constituted National programme.
Formation dossier
Gateways
Labs, learning and Agency
Testbeds, learning and competence-based expert support.
Test protocolLearning plan
The seventh offer, the Universe technical office, supports the annual programme that The Global Risks Forum (GRF) governs; it is the last tab below.
02Each offer in detail
Who it is for, what is done and what you receive.
For each offer: who it is for, the problem, the work, what you receive and contribute, and the boundary that limits it. Terms common to every offer follow in section 03.
Research programmes
| Who it is for | National governments, central agencies, research institutes and statistics and hydrometeorology agencies |
|---|---|
| The problem | Which systems matter most, where material dependencies and evidence gaps lie, and what can responsibly be concluded |
| The work | Scope national and subnational systems, qualify sources, map dependencies, separate data reported by authorities from estimates, run domain and editorial review |
| You receive | A baseline country profile, a national systems model, an evidence-gap register, methods papers and, after review, reports |
| You contribute | A named counterpart, access to sources you hold under a rights schedule, and reviewers for country findings |
| Boundary | A country profile does not imply a government commission, and no one can pay for a favourable editorial position |
Risk technology and intelligence
| Who it is for | Governments, utilities and infrastructure operators, sector ministries, computing centres and research networks |
|---|---|
| The problem | How a shock could propagate through essential services, and what technical environment can support national work without needless dependency |
| The work | Build sector dependencies and controlled stress tests; assess data location, interoperability, security, workforce, model rights and exit; design a bounded environment in Foundry |
| You receive | A sector dependency atlas, scenarios, an estate assessment, a data and compute architecture and a portability package |
| You contribute | An authorised information scope, operator assumptions and staff time for review and rehearsal |
| Boundary | The programme gains no control of operational technology; a blueprint is not an installed environment and requested capacity is not allocated capacity |
Policy research and standards
| Who it is for | Ministries, regulators, regional bodies, standards bodies and professional societies |
|---|---|
| The problem | Which technical options are available for a public decision, and how data and methods can work across institutions and borders |
| The work | Evidence reviews, options analysis with limitations, interoperability protocols and methods profiles, prepared with the institution that decides |
| You receive | Options briefs, a scoped methods or interoperability profile, and reusable artefacts where licensed |
| You contribute | The decision context, the mandate holder and review of drafts |
| Boundary | GCRI supplies options, not decisions; completing a test or profile is not accreditation |
Technical assistance
| Who it is for | Public institutions, national and regional consortiums, and development and humanitarian organisations |
|---|---|
| The problem | A specific capability gap: methods, data stewardship, preparedness analysis or programme operations |
| The work | Bounded capacity-building under a defined scope, counterpart, data arrangement and next-step authority |
| You receive | A domain work brief, supervised work products, training where agreed and a reviewed handoff |
| You contribute | A counterpart with authority over the scope, staff to be trained and the data the work needs |
| Boundary | Technical assistance is not procurement, financing or execution authority |
National programme formation
| Who it is for | Governments and national institutions considering a National programme |
|---|---|
| The problem | How to establish a nationally owned programme with clear accountability, safeguards and resources |
| The work | Exploration, then a formation dossier: local ownership model, host options, first risk questions, safeguards, resources and exit conditions |
| You receive | A scoping note, an authority map, a first-quarter baseline plan and a decision on whether to proceed |
| You contribute | Nationally accountable counterparts and a view of domestic resources |
| Boundary | A research profile or enquiry is not a constituted programme; national adoption is a separate decision of the competent authority |
Labs, learning and Agency
- LabsWhat it offersTestbeds that check whether a technology solves the intended problem under representative conditions: protocol, measured evaluation, failure cases and a transition recommendationBoundaryTesting is not a regulatory sandbox, an accreditation or a procurement status, and sponsorship has no say in a result
- Learning and coursesWhat it offersSupervised learning in the working groups, and courses GCRI authors as a course provider, each hosted on Risk Academy, a Nexus Consortium programmeBoundaryGCRI is a course provider, never the host of the Academy; a learning record is not a professional licence or a promise of employment
- AgencyWhat it offersCompetence-based technical assistance and expert-matching enquiries, with conflict checks and supervisionBoundaryMatching is an enquiry route, not an appointment or a contract
Universe technical office
| Who it is for | Mission teams, computing and network contributors, and hosts taking part in the annual programme |
|---|---|
| The problem | Which of the year’s missions need temporary technical intensity and a controlled environment in which to be tested |
| The work | Mission scoping, data and method qualification, the Core build, exercise control support and evidence capture |
| You receive | A mission scope, qualification records, build and exercise evidence and an improvement backlog |
| You contribute | A qualified mission team, or a resource offer with its owner, constraints and availability window |
| Boundary | GRF governs the programme; neither membership nor sponsorship secures a compute allocation, and an offer is not an allocation |
Programme governance, editions and participation are set out on the Universe gateway at GRF and the Universe website. The annual cycle ends in a planned stand-down; review, reconciliation and corrections continue afterwards.
03Terms for every offer
Cost, accountability, rights and exit, stated before work begins.
These terms apply to every programme above. The written agreement for a scope restates them for that engagement.
| Topic | How it works |
|---|---|
| Cost | Determined in the written terms for each scope under GCRI’s not-for-profit model. Any fees support operation and are not donations. Cooperation with governments and public institutions never depends on buying a membership tier, and ordinary working-group participation has no fee. |
| Who is accountable | GCRI Canada, as lead contracting organisation of the Nexus Consortium, for the agreed scope; GCRI US for work within its own scope. Decisions taken on the evidence remain with the competent authority. |
| Access and rights | National programmes keep their agenda, data and decision rights. A rights schedule separates background material, joint results, third-party material and protected community knowledge. |
| Available now | Information and enquiries. Enquiries receive a reference. Applications, payments and computing allocations open only when their team, terms and review capacity are in place. |
| The next step | Normally a scoping conversation. No response time is promised for an enquiry; the acknowledgement gives a reference and names the next step. |
| If it fails | A decision not to proceed is recorded with its reasons. Failed tests produce documented failure cases, and negative findings can be published. |
| Leaving or raising a concern | Participants may withdraw under the agreed exit conditions; withdrawal does not erase other parties’ lawful work. Concerns and complaints go to the integrity concern form, as set out on Trust and integrity. |
04How an engagement runs
From enquiry to handoff, each step recorded.
Five steps, each leaving a record, so the work can be reviewed, continued by others or stopped cleanly.
- 01
Enquiry
You write to the Secretariat or a regional desk and receive a reference.
Open now - 02
Scoping
The question, the counterpart, the data and the authority for the next step are agreed.
- 03
Terms
A written agreement with the correct parties, scope, rights, cost and exit conditions.
Opens with service capacity - 04
Work and review
The work is done in Foundry and reviewed on method by qualified, conflict-managed reviewers.
- 05
Handoff
The product passes to the institution that decides, with its limits stated beside its findings.
05Where other institutions lead
What GCRI does not offer, and who does.
GCRI leads the science and the evidence. Two independent consortium stewards lead the work that follows from it.
The Global Risks Alliance (GRA)
Finance, insurance and capital readiness
GRA translates evidence into the questions financial institutions ask; it does not lend, underwrite, rate, invest or approve. See finance readiness at GRA.
GCRI does not fund, invest in, procure for or approve projects, issue warnings, or act as an emergency service.
06Twin and cascade simulator
Build a twin for a national programme.
Assemble the hazards, systems, sectors and controls of the Nexus Standards profile for disaster risk reduction, choose an initiating hazard and run the cascade; the Map view places the run on an example geography with open data. An exercise for scoping a programme, not an assessment of any country.
Hazards
- Tropical cyclone
- Flash flood
- Heatwave
- Ice-jam flood
- HIV epidemic
- Earthquake
- Storm surge (set off downstream)
- Intense rainfall (set off downstream)
- River flood (set off downstream)
- Dangerous surf (set off downstream)
- Widespread power outage (set off downstream)
- Mass displacement (set off downstream)
- Coastal flood (set off downstream)
- Extreme fire weather (set off downstream)
- Wildfire (set off downstream)
- Heat-driven grid stress (set off downstream)
- Agricultural drought (set off downstream)
- Flash drought (set off downstream)
Systems and couplings
Controls
NS-0Constitution and principlesNS-1The UNI and the artefact catalogue (grammar v0.2: domain, sector, region and environment segments)NS-3Risk record UNIs (grammar, legacy crosswalk, allocation authority)NS-3bDataset and product metadata profile (STAC, DCAT, PROV-O)NS-9Contextual UNIs (deployments, instances, programme instances)NS-11Verification and monitoring (evidence, attestations, zero-trust conformance observation)NS-14Conformance and crosswalk to external standardsNRS-C15Loss, damage and impact accountingNRS-H114Hazard family: Macroeconomic and fiscal shocks (NHS-1 soc.macro-fiscal)NRS-K20Domain pack profile: Climate adaptation (DOMAIN-020)NRS-H54Hazard family: Signal and platform disruption (NHS-1 cyber.platform)NRS-H65Hazard family: Planetary boundary transgressions (NHS-1 planet.boundary)NRS-H119Hazard family: Cultural heritage loss (NHS-1 soc.heritage)
Observation
- DesInventar disaster loss databases (listed for reference)
- INFORM Risk Index (listed for reference)
- Global SDG Indicators Database (listed for reference)
- EM-DAT international disaster database (listed for reference)
- Number of deaths and missing persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
- Number of directly affected people attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
- Direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global GDP
- Damage to critical infrastructure attributed to disasters
- Number of countries that adopt and implement national DRR strategies
- Total public international support for national disaster risk reduction actions (Sendai indicator F-1)
- Number of countries that have multi-hazard early warning systems
- Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
Example geography
- Bangladesh: 134 hexagonal cells
- Rain rate, last half hour (IMERG), NASA GIBS
- Surface water through cloud, 30 m (OPERA DSWx-S1 radar), NASA GIBS
- Surface air temperature, daytime (AIRS), NASA GIBS
- Night lights tonight, outages (VIIRS Day/Night Band), NASA GIBS
07Questions
Questions about GCRI programmes.
How much does a GCRI programme cost?
There is no published fee schedule. Cost is set in the written terms for each scope, under GCRI’s not-for-profit model, and any fees support operation rather than being donations. Cooperation with governments and public institutions never depends on buying a membership tier.
Which GCRI organisation will I contract with?
GCRI Canada, the lead contracting organisation of the Nexus Consortium, is normally the party to an agreement. GCRI US is a separate institution with its own legal identity and acts within its own scope. The scoping note names the organisation for your engagement.
Can GCRI help us secure finance for a resilience project?
GCRI can prepare the technical evidence, such as exposure, scenarios and evidence states. Translating it into finance-readiness questions is led by The Global Risks Alliance (GRA), and lending, underwriting and investment decisions remain with licensed financial institutions.
Who owns the results?
A rights schedule agreed at the start separates background material, joint results, third-party material and protected community knowledge. National programmes keep their data and decision rights, and publication follows review and those rights.
Can a programme start now?
Information and enquiries are open today. An enquiry sent today receives a reference, and the acknowledgement names the next step; agreements, payments and computing allocations open only when their team, terms and review capacity are in place.
What happens if the work does not succeed?
A decision not to proceed is recorded with its reasons, failed tests produce documented failure cases, and negative findings can be published. You may also withdraw under the exit conditions agreed in the terms.
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.
Related
More on GCRI programmes, GRF and GRA.
Consortium Secretariat
Bring a question; leave with a defined first outcome.
The Secretariat confirms the offer, the scope of useful work and the conditions for any next step. An enquiry receives a reference; it does not create a service contract.
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