> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.therisk.global/organization/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.therisk.global/organization/programme/the-programme-year.md). # The programme year The programme year of the Nexus programme: prepared for a year, built in a month, tested in a week and stood down in a day; four quarters, twelve phases, eight gates and every actor in them. *Where this fits: applied response, in time. Pillars: all six. Institutions: GRF (steward and gates), GCRI (technical office and Foundry), GRA (finance readiness),* [*National Nexus*](/organization/governance-in-operation/national-nexus.md) *(NNC, NLC, NWG), the competent authority outside the programme. Phases: all twelve; gates G0 to G7. Kind: programme page.* **In brief.** The programme runs on one annual cycle. Its rule is short: prepared for a year, built in a month, tested in a week and stood down in a day, then reviewed and renewed ([Annual programme cycle](https://therisk.global/programmes/annual-cycle/)). The year has four quarters, each with its edition of Nexus Reports, twelve phases and eight gates, G0 to G7. [The Global Risks Forum](/organization/institutions/grf.md) (GRF) records every gate. A gate is a programme decision about the cycle, never a public-authority approval, a certification or a deployment authorisation. The year is a designed specification: no cycle has yet run, and every programme is at service level R0 ([Programme status](https://therisk.global/consortium/programme-status/)). The tables on this page are generated from the sites' pillar model and the programme spine. ## Every actor in the year
One programme year from left to right, in ten columns: Planning in Q1, readiness preparation and the controlled build in Q2, Action Week, stand-down, closeout and after-action review in Q3, then reporting, correction and docket review, and renewal in Q4. The Global Risks Forum records the gates G0 to G7. National Nexus sets the agenda and agrees the profile scope before the year starts; its working groups deliver monthly and its councils align quarterly. GCRI, through the Foundry and its technical office, opens the cycle projects, qualifies sources, delivers the Core Build Report and seals the evidence. The Global Risks Alliance runs the finance-readiness track. Nexus Standards composes mission profiles and turns findings into change proposals. Nexus Reports publishes one edition each quarter. Risk Academy qualifies the roles, assesses the exercise and supplies qualified participants for the next cycle. The Labs pillar opens the year's experiments and proposes next year's questions. The competent authority, outside the programme, decides and acts on its own authority.

The programme year, with every actor in it. A designed programme cycle, not a record of operation: no cycle has run, no edition has been released and no credential issued; every programme is at service level R0. Gates are programme decisions, never public-authority approvals. Source: Pillar model and programme spine (phases, gates, rhythm, handoffs F01 to F14 and R4); GCRI, GRF and GRA programme pages. As of 2026-10-21.

Figure data (text alternative) | Element | Description | Connected to | | ------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | | G0 mandate | Annual programme authorised | Cycle projects | | Planning | Q1 · one year | | | Readiness | Q2 · preparation | | | Controlled build | Q2 · one month | | | Action Week | Q3 · one week | | | Stand-down | Q3 · one day (proposed) | | | Closeout | Q3 | | | After-action | Q3 · review | | | Reporting | Q4 | | | Correction | Q4 · docket, network | | | Renewal | Q4 | | | National agenda | Profile scope agreed before Q1 | | | Cycle projects | Portfolio baseline | G0 mandate; G1 and G2 | | G1 and G2 | Missions admitted, qualified | Cycle projects; Sources qualified | | Sources qualified | Scenario models (F01) | G1 and G2; Core Build Report; Mission profiles | | Core Build Report | Go or no-go (F02) | Sources qualified; G3 build; Prototypes | | G3 build | Accepted for exercise | Core Build Report; G4 Action Week | | G4 Action Week | Controlled operation | G3 build; Simulations run | | Simulations run | Exercise picture | G4 Action Week; Evidence sealed | | Evidence sealed | Observations (F03) | Simulations run; G5 sealed | | G5 sealed | Stand-down recorded | Evidence sealed; Q3 edition | | Q3 edition | Stress test (F04, F05) | G5 sealed; Q4 synthesis | | Q4 synthesis | Annual flagship | Q3 edition; G6 publication; Decides and acts | | G6 publication | Authorised | Q4 synthesis; Change proposals | | Decides and acts | On its own authority | Q4 synthesis | | Change proposals | Findings, docket (F06, F07) | G6 publication; G7 renewal | | G7 renewal | Next-cycle mandate | Change proposals | | NWG in exercises | Response teams, not emergency services | | | Quarterly alignment | NNC and NLC; NWG monthly | | | Portfolio movement | National Portfolio (F05) | | | Readiness dialogue | What a mission means for finance | | | Finance track | Action Week track 7 | | | Finance chapter | Flagship reading | | | Mission profiles | Adoption records (F08) | Sources qualified | | Conformance logged | Deviations recorded | | | Modules | Adopted standards taught (F09) | | | Q1 edition | State and Agenda | | | Q2 edition | Evidence and Build | | | Next mandate | Synthesis informs it (F12) | | | Cohort plan | Rooms become courses (F14) | | | Role qualification | Before the build | | | Exercise assessed | Against objectives | | | Completion evidence | Assessed tasks (F10) | Next-cycle roles | | Next-cycle roles | Qualified people (F11) | Completion evidence | | Experiments open | On the mandate's questions | | | Prototypes | Reproducible ones built (R4) | Core Build Report | | Next questions | Every experiment written up | |
The year is not run by one organisation. Each actor holds a part of it and hands that part on. | Actor | Role in the year | Rhythm | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------- | | **The Global Risks Forum (GRF)** | Stewards Nexus Universe: the mandate (G0), the admission of missions (G1), the gate decisions and the authorisation of publication (G6), held in the manner of exercise direction, apart from controllers and evaluators ([Programme governance](https://globalriskforum.com/nexus-universe/grf-role/)) | At each gate | | **GCRI** | Runs the technical office of the programme (scoping, qualification, the Core build, exercise support, evidence capture and closeout) and the Foundry pillar, where projects are built, simulated and sealed on the [Nexus systems](/organization/systems.md) ([technical office](https://therisk.global/programmes/nexus-universe/)) | Continuous, with the Core Build Report at G3 | | [**The Global Risks Alliance**](/organization/institutions/gra.md) **(GRA)** | Runs the finance-readiness dialogues and the finance-readiness track of Action Week, and reads the findings for the finance and insurance chapter of the flagship ([Universe finance-readiness](https://globalriskalliance.com/engagement/nexus-universe/)) | Q2 dialogues, Q3 track, Q4 chapter | | **National Nexus** | The country programme sets its own agenda and agrees the scope of its profile before Q1; national counterparts own the agenda, data and decisions ([National Nexus](https://therisk.global/consortium/national/)) | Before Q1, then quarterly | | **NWG** ([National Working Groups](/organization/governance-in-operation/nwg.md)) | Do the expert work in bounded, supervised assignments; their domain response teams take part in exercises and are not emergency services ([Working groups](https://therisk.global/consortium/national/nwg/)) | Monthly delivery | | **NNC and NLC** ([National Nexus Consortium](/organization/governance-in-operation/nnc.md) and [National Leadership Council](/organization/governance-in-operation/nlc.md)) | Institutions through constituency councils, and leaders in a personal capacity, align the national programme with the cycle ([NNC](https://therisk.global/consortium/national/nnc/); [NLC](https://therisk.global/consortium/national/nlc/)) | Quarterly alignment | | **The six pillars** | Each pillar's work by quarter and by phase, in the tables below | By phase | | **The competent authority** | Outside the programme. It decides and acts under its own rules; the programme informs it and never decides for it | When it chooses | ## Time scales | Time scale | Work | Status | | ---------------- | ---------------- | -------- | | One year | Prepare | designed | | One month | Build | designed | | One week | Act and test | designed | | One day | Stand down | proposed | | Following period | Review and renew | designed | The one-day stand-down is still marked as proposed in the programme spine. ## Quarters and editions | Quarter | Edition | Phases | | ------- | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | Q1 | State and Agenda | Planning | | Q2 | Evidence and Build | Readiness preparation, Controlled build | | Q3 | Stress Test and Readiness | Action Week, Stand-down, Closeout, After-action review | | Q4 | Annual Synthesis and Renewal | Reporting, Correction, Docket review, Network review, Renewal | ## Gates Eight gates divide the year. Each is recorded by GRF as a programme decision with its evidence. G1, the admission of missions, sits inside readiness preparation, which closes at G2. | Gate | Decision | Closes | | ---- | --------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- | | G0 | Annual programme authorised | Planning | | G1 | Missions admitted | Inside readiness preparation | | G2 | Data and resources qualified | Readiness preparation | | G3 | Build accepted for exercise | Controlled build | | G4 | Controlled live operation authorised | Action Week | | G5 | Evidence sealed and stand-down recorded | Closeout | | G6 | Publication authorised | Reporting | | G7 | Renewal reviewed | Renewal | ## Phases, outputs and handoffs The twelve phases of the year, with what each produces and the recorded handoffs that move in it. | Phase | Quarter | Time scale | Gate | Outputs | Handoffs | | --------------------- | ------- | ---------------- | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------- | | Planning | Q1 | One year | G0 | Cycle mandate; Profile scope agreements; Portfolio baseline; Q1 edition; Routing result per mission; Cohort plan | F14 | | Readiness preparation | Q2 | One year | G2 | Admission decisions; Qualified resource list; Mission profiles; Qualified participants | F01, F08 | | Controlled build | Q2 | One month | G3 | Core Build Report; Signed builds; Validation evidence; Q2 edition; Assessed build tasks | F02, F13 | | Action Week | Q3 | One week | G4 | Run records; Decision records; Observation records; Exercise assessments | – | | Stand-down | Q3 | One day | – | Stand-down receipt; Evidence manifest | – | | Closeout | Q3 | Following period | G5 | Evidence seal; Exception register; Completion records | F03, F10 | | After-action review | Q3 | Following period | – | After-action report; Portfolio update; Q3 edition; Change proposals; Course revisions | F04, F05 | | Reporting | Q4 | Following period | G6 | Q4 annual synthesis; Country profiles; Regional profiles; Technology stream briefs; Credential issuances | – | | Correction | Q4 | Following period | – | Correction records; New edition versions | F06 | | Docket review | Q4 | Following period | – | Docket routing; Capability gap register; Proposal decisions | F07 | | Network review | Q4 | Following period | – | Network review; Measured capacity results | – | | Renewal | Q4 | Following period | G7 | Renewal decision; Next-cycle mandate | F09, F11, F12 | ### What each pillar does in each phase | Phase | Labs | Foundry | Universe | Standards | Reports | Academy | | ------------------------------ | ---- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Planning (Q1, G0) | – | Opens the cycle projects and takes a baseline of every National Portfolio. | Forms the agenda from national demand and authorises the annual mandate. | Routes each candidate mission to the standards and profiles that apply. | Records each country's profile scope agreement, then publishes the Q1 State and Agenda edition. | Opens the year's pathways and enrols cohorts tied to the missions. | | Readiness preparation (Q2, G2) | – | Qualifies data sources and resource offers; builds the scenario models. | Admits missions (G1) and qualifies data, people and resources (G2). | Composes mission profiles and records any national adoption the missions depend on. | Collects source updates and method notes for the Q2 Evidence and Build edition. | Runs the qualification courses that admitted roles require before the build. | | Controlled build (Q2, G3) | – | Integrates software and data, signs builds, tests security and interoperability. | Assembles the Core and holds the go or no-go decision for the exercise. | Validates build outputs against the composed profiles and records the evidence. | Publishes the Q2 edition: new evidence and capability, labelled configured, not validated. | Teams learn on the build itself; assessed tasks are real build tickets. | | Action Week (Q3, G4) | – | Runs simulations and benchmarks and monitors the exercise picture. | Runs controlled exercises across the Action Week tracks with independent evaluators. | Monitors conformance during operation and logs deviations. | Observes; nothing simulated is reported as observed impact. | Assesses performance in the exercise against stated objectives. | | Stand-down (Q3) | – | Revokes temporary access and releases temporary capacity. | Stops new work and checkpoints authorised jobs. | Seals transferable evidence with its provenance. | Freezes the evidence manifest it will draw on. | Closes exercise assessments and preserves the evidence. | | Closeout (Q3, G5) | – | Reconciles equipment, reservations and costs; verifies persistent services. | Records unresolved exceptions with accountable owners. | Records sealed evidence against the standards it was tested on. | Receives the sealed evidence for the Q3 edition. | Writes completion records for assessed participants. | | After-action review (Q3) | – | Updates the National Portfolio with measured movement. | Reviews what worked, what failed and what was not tested, preserving dissent. | Turns findings about methods and gaps into change proposals. | Publishes the Q3 Stress Test and Readiness edition. | Turns findings into new or revised course material. | | Reporting (Q4, G6) | – | Supplies the permitted data bundles behind each edition. | Authorises publication of the year's results. | Assigns UNIs and deposits publications under the publisher's process. | Publishes the Q4 Annual Synthesis: country and regional profiles and technology streams. | GCRI Canada issues credentials where assessment supports them and the issuance rule is met. | | Correction (Q4) | – | Re-runs the affected analysis with the corrected inputs. | Routes reproducible concerns to the owner of the finding. | Records the correction as a change to the evidence. | Publishes a new version with the correction and its reason. | Updates any course that taught the corrected finding. | | Docket review (Q4) | – | Registers capability gaps as work for the next build. | Reviews the year's dockets and routes items to their owners. | Moves change proposals through review toward a council decision. | Lists open questions for the next Q1 edition. | Plans the next year's pathways from the gaps found. | | Network review (Q4) | – | Publishes measured capacity results and resource qualification changes. | Reviews shared computing and network performance for the year. | Updates the measurement and interoperability profiles. | Draws on measured results only; device counts are not results. | Updates technical courses for operators of shared computing. | | Renewal (Q4, G7) | – | Carries the National Portfolio and open projects into the next cycle. | Reviews renewal and sets the next cycle's mandate. | Publishes the year's adopted changes and national adoption status. | Closes the year's edition series; the next Q1 starts from the Q4 synthesis. | Opens next-cycle cohorts for credentialed and new participants. | ### The eight "When" steps The pillar hexagon on the home pages plays the year in eight steps, one for each phase that carries at least one recorded handoff: Planning (F14); Readiness preparation (F01, F08); Controlled build (F02, F13); Closeout (F03, F10); After-action review (F04, F05); Correction (F06); Docket review (F07); and Renewal (F09, F11, F12). The four ring handoffs, R1 to R4, run throughout. Action Week, Stand-down, Reporting and Network review carry no recorded handoff between pillars, so they do not appear as steps, although each has its own outputs and, for Action Week and Reporting, its gate. ## The pillars by quarter | Pillar | Q1 State and Agenda | Q2 Evidence and Build | Q3 Stress Test and Readiness | Q4 Annual Synthesis and Renewal | | --------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | Labs | Opens the year's experiments on the questions the mandate names | Runs prototypes in short cycles; hands reproducible ones to the Foundry | Tests ideas alongside Action Week; records what failed and why | Writes up every experiment; proposes next year's questions | | Foundry | Opens cycle projects; National Portfolio baseline | Qualifies sources; one-month controlled build | Runs simulations in Action Week; releases temporary capacity | Supplies data bundles; registers capability gaps | | Nexus Universe | Annual mandate (G0) | Missions admitted (G1), qualified (G2), build accepted (G3) | Action Week (G4), stand-down, evidence sealed (G5) | Publication authorised (G6), renewal (G7) | | Nexus Standards | Routes missions to standards | Composes profiles; validates the build | Monitors conformance; findings become proposals | Council review; adopted changes published | | Nexus Reports | State and Agenda edition | Evidence and Build edition | Stress Test and Readiness edition | Annual Synthesis, the flagship | | Risk Academy | Pathways open; cohorts enrol | Qualification courses; learning on the build | Exercise assessments; completion records | Course revisions; next cohorts open | ## Action Week tracks | Track | Name | | ----- | ------------------------------------------- | | 1 | Scientific methods and data | | 2 | Sovereign compute and network integration | | 3 | Sector and country missions | | 4 | Frontier technology evaluation | | 5 | Public-authority learning | | 6 | Leadership and policy deliberation | | 7 | Finance and insurance readiness | | 8 | Academy and workforce | | 9 | Rights-holder and public-interest challenge | | 10 | Public evidence and communication | ## At each scale The same year runs at four scales. National demand forms the agenda; regional profiles never override a country's own findings; adoption of a standard is final for each jurisdiction. | Scale | Question | Labs | Foundry | Universe | Standards | Reports | Academy | | --------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Local | A place, a site, a system. | Experiments run on real places and systems, with the location and boundary of every result recorded. | Observations and models keep their place: every value carries the location and boundary it was drawn on. | Exercises run on named places and systems, under exercise control. | A UNI identifies each artifact, dataset and site record, so a local finding can be cited and corrected. | Local evidence enters a profile only within the scope its country agreed. | Courses are taught on real locations, so learners work on the place they study. | | National | A country programme and its counterparts. | National teams propose experiments for their own questions and keep ownership of their data. | Each country's National Portfolio is developed and tracked. | National demand forms the agenda, and national counterparts own the agenda, data and decisions. | National councils adopt or adapt standards, and adoption is final for each jurisdiction. | Country profiles are updated each quarter, within the scope each country agreed before Q1. | Cohorts are tied to the missions of each national programme. | | Regional | Countries sharing systems and borders. | Regional experiments compare methods across countries before one is chosen for the Foundry. | Shared systems and cross-border dependencies are modelled across the countries of a region. | Regional programmes contribute missions that cross borders. | Profiles compose the standards that apply across a regional programme's shared systems. | Regional profiles are published twice a year, in Q2 and Q4, and never override a country's own findings. | Pathways are shared across the countries of a region where the same systems are at risk. | | Planetary | The whole Earth system and every jurisdiction. | Planetary experiments test methods against global data, labelled as exploratory until reproduced. | Global data and Earth observation are held with provenance, so planetary pressures can be read alongside national ones. | The annual programme brings national and regional work together once a year. | A Global Standards Council stewards one open set of standards that any jurisdiction may adopt. | The Q4 Annual Synthesis reads country, regional and technology work together, without ranking countries. | Courses are open, so anyone anywhere can learn on the same material. | ## Method The year is modelled as a process with stocks and flows: each pillar owns records (stocks), and the recorded handoffs are the flows between them, closed into feedback loops when the findings of one year set the mandate of the next (Sterman, 2000). The swimlane figure follows the conventions of business process notation, one lane per actor ([OMG, BPMN 2.0](https://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/2.0/)). The exercise phases follow the separation of exercise direction, control and evaluation recommended for simulation exercises ([WHO, 2017](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-WHE-CPI-2017.10)). ## Read further * [Programme](/organization/programme.md) and the six pillars: [Labs](/organization/programme/labs.md), [Foundry](/organization/programme/foundry.md), [Nexus Universe](/organization/programme/universe.md), [Nexus Standards](/organization/programme/standards.md), [Nexus Reports](/organization/programme/reports.md), [Risk Academy](/organization/programme/academy.md). * [The Nexus cycle](/organization/programme/the-nexus-cycle.md): the eight steps from a question to renewal. * [Identifiers and records](/organization/programme/identifiers-and-records.md): one UNI for every object of the year. * [Cooperation › Nexus Universe](/organization/cooperation/nexus-universe.md): the earlier, detailed doctrine of the Universe cadence. ## Sources * GCRI, [Annual programme cycle](https://therisk.global/programmes/annual-cycle/), [Nexus Universe technical office](https://therisk.global/programmes/nexus-universe/), [Programme status](https://therisk.global/consortium/programme-status/), [National Nexus](https://therisk.global/consortium/national/), [NNC](https://therisk.global/consortium/national/nnc/), [NLC](https://therisk.global/consortium/national/nlc/) and [NWG](https://therisk.global/consortium/national/nwg/), as of 2026-10-21. * GRF, [Programme governance](https://globalriskforum.com/nexus-universe/grf-role/) and [annual operating cycle](https://globalriskforum.com/nexus-universe/annual-cycle/). * GRA, [Universe finance-readiness programme](https://globalriskalliance.com/engagement/nexus-universe/). * Object Management Group (2011). [Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) 2.0](https://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/2.0/). * Sterman, J. D. (2000). *Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World.* Boston: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. * World Health Organization (2017). [Simulation Exercise Manual](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-WHE-CPI-2017.10). WHO/WHE/CPI/2017.10. * Pillar model and programme spine of the sites (vendored in the documentation repository, `tools/figures/vendor/nexus-model`): the source of every generated table on this page. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question. 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