GRF · AI and Digital Governance

AI and Digital Governance

Institutional governance of AI and digital systems, including rights, accountability and public technology. AI and Digital Governance is an established platform of The Global Risks Forum.

STEM methods
4
Canonical methods this field applies
Topics
8
Subject pages in the field
Counterparts
10
Platforms in shared fields across the network
Report series
2
Reports series it contributes to
01Workspace

The workspace for AI and Digital Governance.

Public algorithm register

Algorithm register · Quarter 4 · Example interface, not a record

Two high-risk systems without assessmentGRF · AI and Digital Governance

Registered systems

Benefit fraud flaggingSocial agencyHighMissingPartial
Permit triagePlanningLimitedDoneYes
School placementEducationHighDoneYes
Chat assistantTax officeMinimalDonen/a

Oversight action

System
Benefit fraud flagging
Required
impact assessment, appeal route
Deadline
34 days
Authority
Oversight body

Complaints about automated decisions

Public algorithm register.Illustrative interface; not live data.

AI and Digital Governance · Public algorithm register. Public algorithm register: example names and illustrative values, not a record.

02Frameworks

What the work is read against.

The platform does not set standards. It reads its evidence against the frameworks that competent bodies have adopted, so a finding can be placed where a decision-maker already works.

Framework or standardBodyWhat it sets
EU Artificial Intelligence ActEuropean UnionRisk-based obligations for AI systems and general-purpose AI models, with prohibited practices, high-risk requirements and conformity assessment applying in stages
OECD AI PrinciplesOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, endorsed by the G20Values-based principles for trustworthy AI and recommendations to governments, updated by the OECD Council
Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of LawCouncil of EuropeThe first binding international treaty on AI, open to non-member states, covering the full lifecycle of AI systems
Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial IntelligenceUNESCOValues, principles and policy areas for ethical AI adopted by UNESCO member states, with readiness assessments
AI Risk Management FrameworkUS National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)Voluntary functions for governing, mapping, measuring and managing AI risk, with profiles including one for generative AI
ISO/IEC 42001 Artificial intelligence management systemISO and IEC Joint Technical Committee 1, Subcommittee 42Requirements for an organisation’s management system for developing or using AI responsibly
General Data Protection Regulation and Convention 108+European Union; Council of EuropeRules on lawful processing of personal data, rights of data subjects and safeguards on automated decisions
NIS2 DirectiveEuropean UnionCybersecurity risk management and incident reporting obligations for essential and important entities, including public administration
Global Digital CompactUnited Nations General AssemblyCommitments on digital inclusion, data governance, human rights online and international AI governance, including a scientific panel and global dialogue
03Policy scenarios

Compare instruments: rules, incentives and information.

Three families of instruments side by side against the baseline, each with its own lag and adoption speed, under the coverage and compliance you set; effect sizes are teaching values to replace with evidence. Scenario: named assumptions about the future, not a forecast.

Controls

Baseline trend of the outcome
2.0% a year
Coverage of the instrument
70%
Compliance
75%
Effect size, against the teaching value
100%
Years ahead
20 years

Readouts

Largest reduction at the horizon
Regulation
Its reduction against the baseline
21%
Numbers, methods and sources
YearBaselineRegulationEconomic incentiveInformation and capacity
0100.099.598.899.1
1102.0101.2100.199.8
2104.0102.5101.199.9
3106.1103.5101.6100.0
4108.2103.7101.8100.7
5110.4103.2101.7102.1
6112.6102.0101.6103.9
7114.9100.4101.6105.9
8117.299.2102.1108.0
9119.598.6102.9110.1
10121.998.9104.2112.3
11124.399.7105.7114.5
12126.8101.1107.4116.8
13129.4102.7109.4119.2
14131.9104.5111.4121.6
15134.6106.5113.5124.0
16137.3108.5115.7126.5
17140.0110.7118.0129.0
18142.8112.9120.4131.6
19145.7115.1122.8134.2
20148.6117.4125.2136.9

Methods

  1. Tools of government Hood (1983), The Tools of Government, Macmillan
  2. Carrots, sticks and sermons Bemelmans-Videc, Rist and Vedung (1998), Transaction
  3. Diffusion of innovations Rogers (2003), Diffusion of Innovations, Free Press
  4. Uncertainty fan (parameter Monte Carlo) Spiegelhalter, Pearson and Short (2011), Visualising uncertainty about the future, Science 333
  5. One-at-a-time sensitivity (tornado) Saltelli and others (2008), Global Sensitivity Analysis: The Primer, Wiley

Data

The model runs on the teaching values set by the controls. To calibrate it for a place, read it against these admitted layers and series, which this page’s map can draw:

  • Borders Natural Earth
  • Cities Natural Earth
Compare instruments: rules, incentives and information. Illustrative teaching model: it runs on the values set by the controls, not on measured data. Methods: Tools of government (Hood (1983), The Tools of Government, Macmillan); Carrots, sticks and sermons (Bemelmans-Videc, Rist and Vedung (1998), Transaction); Diffusion of innovations (Rogers (2003), Diffusion of Innovations, Free Press).
05Implementation

From mandate to evaluation, by pillar.

The steps an instrument takes from mandate to evaluation, each with the pillar that runs it, and the decisions that stay with the authority. Teaching model with stated illustrative values, not a prediction.

  1. Mandate and problem framing Competent authority (outside the programme)
    A competent authority frames the problem and the mandate under its own rules. Howlett, Ramesh and Perl (2009)
  2. Evidence and system model Foundry
    The system is modelled with its feedbacks, data and stated limits. OECD (2014), principle 2
  3. Options appraised with scenarios Foundry
    Instruments are compared under scenarios, with uncertainty shown. Hood (1983)
  4. Exercise with stakeholders Universe
    The options are tested in an exercise with those who would implement and bear them. OECD (2014), principle 3
  5. Standard or guidance drafted Nexus Standards
    What works is codified as a standard or guidance, open to comment. Nexus Standards process
  6. Decision by the authority Competent authority (outside the programme)
    The authority decides, outside the programme, with the evidence on record. Howlett, Ramesh and Perl (2009)
  7. Capacity and training Risk Academy
    Those who implement are trained on the decided instrument and its data. Sendai Framework (2015), priority 2
  8. Monitoring and public report Reports
    Indicators are published with sources, limits and corrections. OECD (2014), principle 5
  9. Evaluation and revision Nexus Standards
    Results return to the standard and the model: the cycle closes. Howlett, Ramesh and Perl (2009)

Methods

  1. Policy cycle Howlett, Ramesh and Perl (2009), Studying Public Policy, Oxford University Press
  2. Governance of critical risks OECD (2014), Recommendation of the Council on the Governance of Critical Risks
  3. Layered drawing of directed graphs Sugiyama, Tagawa and Toda (1981), IEEE SMC 11
From mandate to evaluation, by pillar: the steps as recorded, each with its pillar; sources as cited on each step.
06Coverage

The areas of artificial intelligence this platform takes on.

AI and Digital Governance studies how public institutions oversee artificial intelligence and digital systems: who is accountable for an automated decision, how rights and data are protected, who is liable when an autonomous agent causes harm, how governments buy and set standards for technology, and how countries cooperate. Its pages set out the mechanisms that make oversight hold or fail, the records that show it, the methods that test it and the office holders who decide. Global Risks Forum convenes the dialogue; it does not certify systems or give legal advice.

Area

Oversight and accountability

Regulators, audit bodies, boards and courts that hold AI developers and deployers to account, and the records they rely on.

Area

Algorithmic public decisions

Automated and assisted decisions in welfare, tax, policing, migration and justice, and the safeguards around them.

Area

Rights and privacy

Data protection, non-discrimination, freedom of expression and the remedies available when digital systems affect them.

Area

Data governance

Rules and institutions for collecting, sharing and reusing data, including data spaces, trusts and public data infrastructure.

Area

Agents and liability

Autonomous and agentic systems that act with limited human input, and who answers when they cause harm.

Area

Cyber and public infrastructure

Security obligations for public digital services and critical infrastructure, and incident reporting duties.

Area

Procurement and standards

How governments buy AI and digital systems, and the standards bodies whose specifications become rules.

Area

International cooperation

Treaties, principles, safety institutes and standard-setting forums through which countries coordinate AI governance.

07Instruments and commitments

How AI and Digital Governance is governed: instruments, mandates and commitments.

The instruments, mandates, actors and accountability arrangements a policymaker, diplomat or development agency works with, citing the agreements that set them. Structures follow the frameworks named. Any state or progress drawn is illustrative, not a record.

Policy instrument matrix

The kinds of instrument available on AI and Digital Governance, by level of government and cooperation.

Instrument typeLocalNationalRegionalGlobal
RegulatoryZoning, building codesLaws, standards, licensingHarmonised rulesConventions and treaties
EconomicLocal levies, grantsBudget lines, taxes, insurance schemesRisk pools, regional fundsFinancing mechanisms
InformationLocal warningsDisclosure, early warning, statisticsData sharing arrangementsGlobal monitoring and reporting
InstitutionalLocal committeesLead agencies, coordination councilsRegional bodies and secretariatsMultilateral mandates
CooperativeCommunity agreementsPartnership compactsMemoranda and joint programmesAgreements and joint commitments
A typology after the OECD Recommendation on the Governance of Critical Risks; examples of instrument types, not an inventory of any country’s measures.

Accountability cycle

How commitments on AI and Digital Governance are held to account, from commitment to correction.

  1. CommitGovernmentA commitment with a mandate and a legal basis.
  2. PlanLead agencyA national plan with owners and milestones.
  3. ResourceMinistry of financeA budget line or financing on record.
  4. ImplementAgencies and local governmentDelivery against the plan.
  5. ReportStatistics officeIndicators reported in agreed definitions.
  6. ReviewLegislature, audit, civil societyIndependent review of results and gaps.
  7. CorrectGovernmentChanges to the plan, published with reasons.
A generic accountability cycle; the owner of each step follows the country’s own constitution and law.
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction · UNDRRParis Agreement · UNFCCC2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals · United NationsInternational Health Regulations · WHO
08Overview

What AI and Digital Governance does.

AI governance is the system of laws, regulators, standards, contracts and international agreements through which institutions oversee artificial intelligence and digital systems. Global Risks Forum’s platform compares oversight, public algorithms, rights, data sharing, agent liability, cyber security, procurement and cooperation, and names who decides. It does not certify systems.

Who it serves

Its community

AI governance researchers; public authorities; digital rights specialists; public-sector technologists.

How it works

Its methods

AI governance comparison; lifecycle controls; rights mapping.

What it produces

Its outputs

AI governance guides; digital rights briefs; public technology policy reviews.

09The problem

Institutions are adopting AI faster than they can govern it.

Public authorities use automated systems to assess benefit claims, prioritise inspections, triage emergency calls, detect fraud and allocate services. Digital identity, payments and data exchange are becoming public infrastructure. The governance arrangements that should keep these systems accountable are often still being written.

AI systems learn patterns from data rather than following rules written by people. That makes them powerful and also hard to inspect: their behaviour can change when data changes, they can reproduce biases present in historical records, and they can fail in ways their designers did not anticipate. General-purpose models add a further layer, because the same model may be adapted by many organisations for uses its developer never considered. When such systems inform decisions about people, questions of explanation, contestation and responsibility become central.

Digital public infrastructure concentrates both benefit and risk. A national identity or payments system can widen access to services dramatically, and it can also exclude people who cannot use it, expose personal data at scale or become a single point of failure for the services that depend on it. Cyber incidents against public systems can halt hospitals, councils and utilities. Dependence on a few technology providers raises questions of continuity, jurisdiction and bargaining power.

Failures cascade institutionally as well as technically. A flawed algorithm in a benefits system can wrongly penalise thousands of people before it is detected, erode trust in the agency and expose the state to legal challenge. Governance is the set of roles, rules, checks and remedies that catches such failures early and corrects them fairly.

Why now: the European Union AI Act (2024) is being phased in, the Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI opened for signature in 2024, and the UN established a scientific panel and a global dialogue on AI governance in 2025. The platform is designed to convene public authorities on oversight and accountability, exercise oversight arrangements in Universe, and propose common practice to the Nexus Standards, without assessing or approving any system.

10What the platform does

Comparing governance, mapping rights, convening institutions.

The platform works through AI governance comparison, lifecycle controls and rights mapping. Its outputs are designed to help institutions learn from each other without prescribing what any of them must do.

Guides

AI governance guides

Comparative accounts of how institutions assign roles, test systems, oversee use and provide remedies across the AI lifecycle.

Rights

Digital rights briefs

Maps of the rights at stake in specific digital systems, from privacy and non-discrimination to due process.

Policy

Public technology policy reviews

Reviews of how public bodies procure, deploy and retire technology, and with what safeguards.

GRF convenes and governs programmes. It does not regulate, finance, procure or certify, and hosting or sponsorship confers no authority over findings. AI and Digital Governance does not build or evaluate AI models and is not a financial or data protection regulator.

11Foundation and counterparts

Grounded in science at GCRI, linked to finance at GRA.

The platform draws on artificial intelligence and machine learning, AI evaluation and assurance engineering, digital identity and public digital systems and policy, institutional and decision science, each with a canonical page in the STEM Commons. The Foundry system NXS-NSF (trust, authorisation and assurance) supports policy, rights and assurance decisions.

At The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI), Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems, Digital Public Infrastructure and Cybersecurity and Digital Resilience do the science. At Global Risks Alliance (GRA), AI and Financial Model Risk and Financial Cyber and Operational Resilience build shared industry understanding. See all counterparts.

12Grounding

Built on named science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Every claim on AI and Digital Governance rests on methods with a canonical page in the STEM Commons, so readers can see what a finding depends on and where its limits lie.

Artificial intelligence and machine learningAI evaluation and assurance engineeringDigital identity and public digital systemsPolicy, institutional and decision science

See the STEM foundation of AI and Digital Governance

13Cycle

How work moves in this field.

A question becomes evidence, a governed build, an organised community, a controlled test, a reviewed publication and, finally, a decision taken by the competent authority under its own rules.

  1. Question Universe National, regional or institutional priority. Question in AI and Digital Governance
  2. Evidence Foundry STEM foundation of the platform. Evidence in AI and Digital Governance
  3. Build Foundry Foundry. Build in AI and Digital Governance
  4. Organise Universe Nexus ecosystem. Organise in AI and Digital Governance
  5. Test Universe Universe (independent site). Test in AI and Digital Governance
  6. Publish Reports Reports. Publish in AI and Digital Governance
  7. Decide Competent authority Competent authorities and institutions, through NXS-RLS (participants, agreements and handoffs). Decide in AI and Digital Governance
  8. Renew Universe Corrections and the next annual agenda. Renew in AI and Digital Governance

Each step of the cycle in the pillar it runs in; the decision stays with the competent authority, outside the programme.

14Six pillars

How this works across the six pillars.

AI and Digital Governance works through six pillars of one annual programme, led by the Nexus Consortium, with GCRI, GRF and GRA each contributing in its role: explore, experiment and prototype in Labs, build, simulate and prepare in Foundry, convene and test in Universe, codify, correct and apply in Nexus Standards, publish in every format in Reports, teach in the open in Risk Academy.

Select pillars · hover lines18 / 18 handoffs

Route

The whole programme

Every pillar hands its work to another; together they close the year’s feedback loops.

L · F · U · S · R · A

Pillars
6 of 6
Handoffs
18 of 18
Loops
17 closed

Handoffs in play

  • F01Universe → Foundry · Admitted mission becomes a cycle project with a decision caseReadiness preparation
  • F02Foundry → Universe · Core Build Report and go or no-go evidenceControlled build
  • F03Foundry → Reports · Sealed observations and indicator series behind a profileCloseout
  • F04Universe → Reports · After-action and scenario findings for chapters 10 and 13After-action review

and 14 more

F01 to F14 are the recorded handoffs of the programme year, each with the artefact that moves and its phase; R1, R2, R3 and R4 carry work around the ring. A loop counts when every pillar on it is selected. Every pillar is led by the Nexus Consortium.
  1. LabsWhere questions become experiments and prototypes: new methods, data and tools are tried in the open, with their limits on record, before the Foundry builds them, under the Nexus Consortium.Labs
  2. FoundryWhere the evidence behind a mandate or commitment is built, with its owner and limits on record.AI and Digital Governance in FoundryFoundry
  3. UniverseWhere mandates become missions: GRF records each gate, convenes the parties and keeps implementation accountable.AI and Digital Governance in Universeuniverse.nexus
  4. Nexus StandardsWhere shared rules are agreed in the open; each jurisdiction decides adoption, and no global body holds a veto.Digital, Cyber and AI in Standardsnexustandards.com
  5. ReportsWhere governance analysis and the year’s results are published, so commitments can be followed and checked.AI and Digital Governance in ReportsReports
  6. Risk AcademyWhere policymakers, diplomats and agency staff learn the programme roles and decision-making on the record, on Risk Academy.Faculty of Technology and Digital Systems in Academyrisksacademy.com
18Questions

Questions and answers.

Who publishes AI and Digital Governance?
The Global Risks Forum (GRF) publishes AI and Digital Governance and is responsible for what it publishes. GRF convenes and governs programmes. It does not regulate, finance, procure or certify, and hosting or sponsorship confers no authority over findings.
Is AI and Digital Governance active?
AI and Digital Governance is an established platform of The Global Risks Forum. 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.
How can I contribute?
Start with the participation paths or write to the contact form. An enquiry receives a reference; it does not create membership, a role or an assignment.
Where are findings published?
Reviewed outputs appear on the publications page, and contributions to the Reports series are listed on Publish in Reports.
Which values on this platform are real?
Indicator names, units, sources, methods and frameworks are real. Levels in figures and canvases are examples in a design. A programme replaces them with labelled evidence it owns.
How do I report an error?
Use corrections and concerns, or write to the integrity concern form. A correction is recorded as a new version, never a silent edit.
Does the platform evaluate or approve AI systems?
No. It compares governance arrangements and convenes institutions. Technical evaluation science is done at GCRI, and approval belongs to competent authorities.
Does it lobby for particular AI laws?
No. It convenes dialogue and publishes comparative analysis. It does not campaign for or against legislation.
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.

Global Risks ForumAI and Digital GovernanceExponential TechnologyEvidence Brief
How it works

How AI and Digital Governance works.

Choose a view and press Play to follow the platform’s process, its programme year, the standards it applies and how its findings are published. The outline shows how the work is designed to run, not the status of any decision.

AI and Digital Governance

How AI and Digital Governance works

Platforms · Programme year · Standards · Reports

A platform joins a field to named methods, labelled evidence and the outputs it publishes, without becoming the authority it serves.

  1. 01 Scope

    1. 01Field and familiesStart · The platform leadThe home states the field, its families and who it serves.
    2. 02Topic dossiersRecord · Platform authorsTopics explain the subject with labelled evidence.
  2. 02 Evidence

    1. 03Evidence labelsRecord · GCRIEach value is labelled: observed, published statistics, estimated, modelled, scenario or unknown.
    2. 04MethodsStep · Method ownersMethods come from the STEM Commons, each with one canonical page.
  3. 03 Work

    1. 05Scenarios on the systemsModel · Foundry pillarScenarios run on the Nexus systems, labelled as scenario.
    2. 06Standards that applyRecord · Nexus StandardsThe platform names the standards that apply. A validator report is evidence for review.
  4. 04 Publish

    1. 07EditionsRecord · ReportsFindings are published through Reports with their limits.
    2. 08Authority decidesOutcome · The competent authorityDecisions and execution stay with the government, operator or licensed institution.

AI and Digital Governance home · Platforms · Shared methodsAn outline of how the work is designed to run; it does not report the status of any decision or record.

Take part

Take part in AI and Digital Governance.

Start from who you are. Answer an open call. Or form and lead a competence cell on the AI and Digital Governance platform.

Route

National institutions

Ministries, statistics offices and agencies: a national desk and chapter, and a seat in the working groups. National chapters

Route

Sectors and professions

Operators, regulators, banks, insurers and professional bodies whose work touches AI and Digital Governance. Participate

Route

Learning

Courses and practice, with a record of every course completed. Free to study. Open learning

Route

Standards

Draft, review and adopt the methods and data standards with the working groups. Working groups

Route

Communities and research

Universities, civil society and individual experts: projects, data and review. Write to the team

The Global Risks Index

Every figure on this page is indexed: hazards, climate, conflict, the world.

The Index is the Consortium’s indexing system for risk data. Every indicator, hazard, series and country profile carries its Nexus Standards identifier, its source and its licence, so what this page shows can be traced, corrected and reused.

  1. 01 · Sources205 registered sourcesEvery value keeps its source and licence; withheld values are counted.Data and licences
  2. 02 · Nexus StandardsNIS-1 and NHS-1451 indicators, 905 hazards; every record carries a UNI.Nexus Standards
  3. 03 · The Index54 series, 195 country profilesComputed on the standards; no value is published until an edition is released.The Global Risks Index
  4. 04 · This pageAI and Digital GovernanceMaps, figures and feeds read the Index in the context of hazards, climate, conflict.Public API
Sources205registered, each with its licence
Indicators451NIS-1, 106 composites, 20 domain indices
Hazards905NHS-1, crosswalked to UNDRR-ISC HIPs
Series54global, sector, strategic, technology, thematic
Country profiles195one site per country

Series in this context hazards, climate, conflict

  1. GLBGlobal SystemsThe state of interdependent global risk: the twenty domain indices aggregated to the world, the five core systems (water, energy, food, health, biodiversity) and their couplings, the global tail register and the gap…NXS-GRX-AR-000002Hazards · Climate · Conflict
  2. THDisaster Risk Intelligence (DRI)Signals, observations, event streams, geospatial layers and scenario packs turned into structured risk intelligence for preparedness and planning.NXS-GRX-AR-000111Hazards · Climate · Conflict
  3. GSGlobal CitiesUrban exposure, heat, flooding, informal settlement, service dependency and the economic weight of cities at risk.NXS-GRX-AR-000068Hazards · Infrastructure · Climate
  4. GSGlobal ClimateChronic and acute physical climate hazard, transition exposure, adaptation gaps and scenario pathways to 2030, 2050 and 2100.NXS-GRX-AR-000065Climate · Hazards · Finance

All 54 series · The 20 domain indices

Country profiles the world

Every country profile carries the source and licence of each value. Correct a value or reply

Hazard domains NHS-1

Geodata and API open

Open layers on an equal-area hexagon grid, shown as densities per km² or as symbols: People · GHSL 2025People · WorldPop 2025Built-up areaPortsAirportsRoadsRailwaysRivers and lake centrelines

/api/v1/public/grix · https://nexustandards.com/uni/{uni}
Developers · Data · Made with Natural Earth, Public domain; GHSL and WorldPop, CC BY 4.0

Snapshot of the Index registries pinned 2026-10-23 · 22c6eed. Research and risk-analytics information: not a rating, an official classification, a warning, a benchmark or advice.

AI and Digital Governance

Bring a governance question to the Forum.

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.

The Global Risks Forum

Convening · leadership · urgency

Not for profit

Our articles, maps and twins are free to read and free to republish. Readers and partners keep it that way.

Support our work

Who funds us

GRF is a not-for-profit institution. To ask who funds a piece of work, use the funding questions form.

Independence

Editors and the expert reviewers named on each article decide what we publish. Funders and partners do not review or approve articles before publication.

Licence

Articles: CC BY 4.0. Figures, maps, twins and data: CC BY 4.0. Other uses: ask through the permissions form.