How Nexus works
The Nexus cycle from the governance side: how a question becomes evidence, a Foundry build, an organized community, a Universe test, a Nexus Reports publication and a decision by competent actors.
- Institution
- The Global Risks Forum (GRF)
- Service level
- R0: information and enquiries
- 01QuestionNational, regional or institutional priority
- 02EvidenceSTEM foundation of the platform
- 03BuildNexus Foundry
- 04OrganizeNexus Ecosystem
- 05TestNexus Universe (independent site)
- 06PublishNexus Reports
- 07DecideCompetent authorities and institutions, through Nexus Rails
- 08RenewCorrections and the next annual agenda
The short answer.
The Nexus cycle, seen from GRF, is the eight-step path by which a question becomes evidence, a Foundry build, an organized community, a Universe test, a Nexus Reports publication and a decision by competent actors. GRF convenes leaders to set governance questions, runs the councils, governs Nexus Universe and supports decision-makers without deciding for them.
Jurisdictions in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The jurisdictions that hold authority over this question: countries, their first-level divisions and capitals, shown for Latin America and the Caribbean as an example geography for this subject.
Eight steps, each with an owner.
- QuestionNational, regional or institutional priorityQuestion: what GRF contributes
- EvidenceSTEM foundation of the platformEvidence: what GRF contributes
- BuildNexus FoundryBuild: what GRF contributes
- OrganizeNexus EcosystemOrganize: what GRF contributes
- TestNexus Universe (independent site)Test: what GRF contributes
- PublishNexus ReportsPublish: what GRF contributes
- DecideCompetent authorities and institutions, through Nexus RailsDecide: what GRF contributes
- RenewCorrections and the next annual agendaRenew: what GRF contributes
A policy cycle with the evidence and test steps made explicit.
Public administration has long described policy as a cycle: agenda setting, formulation, decision, implementation and evaluation. The Nexus cycle keeps that shape but adds two steps that classic models leave implicit. An evidence step fixes what the question will be answered with before options are drafted, and a test step exercises an arrangement in a controlled setting before anyone relies on it.
| Classic stage | Nexus step | GRF's part |
|---|---|---|
| Agenda setting | Question | Frames the question with an accountable owner |
| Formulation | Evidence, organise, build | Convenes institutions; evidence and build are led by GCRI |
| Testing (often missing) | Test | Governs exercises in the annual programme |
| Decision | Decide | Records decisions taken by competent authorities |
| Evaluation | Publish, renew | Publishes records and lessons; reopens the question |
No step is owned by the forum alone.
At every step, a named institution outside GRF holds the substantive decision: a ministry decides, an operator implements, a research team owns a model. GRF's role is procedural. It keeps the record, checks that the right institutions were in the room, and makes sure the move from one step to the next is written down. The GCRI view of the cycle describes the evidence side.
What GRF contributes.
| Step | GRF contribution |
|---|---|
| Question | convenes leaders to set the governance questions |
| Evidence | brings evidence into institutional dialogue |
| Build | frames the governance questions that Foundry builds address |
| Organize | runs the leadership councils and institutional dialogues |
| Test | governs Nexus Universe, the annual programme |
| Publish | publishes governance analysis and dialogue outcomes |
| Decide | supports decision-makers without deciding for them |
| Renew | sets the next annual agenda from the year's lessons |
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 |
|---|---|
| Nexus cycle | The eight-step loop by which work moves in every Nexus field: question, evidence, build, organize, test, publish, decide and renew, each step with a named owner. |
| Competent authority | The body that a law or regulation designates to exercise a given power or duty, such as a supervisor, a civil protection agency or a ministry; only it can take the decisions the law assigns to it. |
| Simulation exercise | A practice, training or evaluation activity in which an emergency is described or simulated and participants respond as they would in reality, so that plans and capacities can be tested, as WHO's exercise manual describes. |
| Deliberative forum | A structured process in which participants weigh evidence and arguments together before reaching a view, the approach the OECD describes for representative deliberative processes. |
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.
Pages in How Nexus works.
Questions and answers.
Who decides at the end of the cycle?
Around GRF.
Start with an enquiry.
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.