nexustandards.com/digital-ai · 3 taught
Digital, Cyber and AI
NRS-H99 Algorithmic decision and structural harm; NRS-P5 Digital and AI governance and regulation
3standards1discipline
Illustrative: layers of units and their weighted connections, an activation front sweeping from input to output
Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Governance, Policy and International Affairs · Department of Science, Technology and Society
Risk-based regulation, algorithmic decisions, data governance and oversight
AI and digital governance
AI and digital governance covers how AI and digital systems are overseen and held accountable: risk-based AI regulation, algorithmic decisions in the public sector, data governance and sharing, digital rights and privacy, liability for autonomous agents, procurement and standards, and international cooperation.
- Courses
- In preparation
- Levels
- L2 Intermediate
- Labs
- Network lab
- AI oversight and accountability
- Algorithmic public decisions
- Data governance and sharing
- Digital rights and privacy
- Liability for autonomous agents
- Procurement and standards
- International AI cooperation
- Risk-based AI regulation
Courses in development extend the scope to one further subject: AI assurance, audit and conformity assessment.
02Maps
Build a twin of any place
Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow aI and digital governance on the planet map, the globe and in 3D.
- 13 countries
- First-level divisions, geoBoundaries gbOpen with a licence gate per boundary: read live when the 3D twin opens
- Natural events, NASA EONET: read live when the 3D twin opens
Drag to turn the globe, Ctrl with the wheel to zoom. Keyboard: arrows turn, + and – zoom, 0 resets, V steps through the views, Escape clears.
Flat map of the same data: the 13 countries on a graticule and the numbers below. The globe opens on devices that can draw it, once its code has been checked; the live events and divisions load in the globe on request, each with its data date.
The boundaries, names and designations shown do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Countries: Natural Earth (public domain).
03Live map
Connected activity in China
Night-time lights and population density, the footprint of electrified, connected activity, over China.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 2
Connected activity
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.
Connected activity, framed on China.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.
Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONETSources 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
- 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
- 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). doi:10.7927/H49C6VHW. CC BY 4.0
- 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
- 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). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. 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.
- Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
- NASA GIBS: 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).
- Optional layers (3 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
- Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
- True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
04The subject
The subject, methods and measures and debates and bodies
The field and its scope
For public officers, counsel, product and risk teams and civil society analysts who must oversee AI and digital systems, apply risk-based regulation, govern data and hold algorithmic decisions to account.
Quantities and units
Methods and their limits
Each method is listed with what it assumes and where it fails.
What the field debates
Bodies that set practice, and the data they publish
Bodies and standards are named so learners can find and apply their published work; the Academy teaches their use and links to the publisher, and no affiliation is implied.
05The method
From an error rate to a wrongful decision: how a disparity audit feeds a conformity decision
An automated system's error rate per demographic group, multiplied by the decisions it takes and the share of people in each group, gives wrongful decisions per group; the gap between groups is the disparity a risk-based regime asks a provider to measure before and after deployment.
Sources: European Parliament and Council, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (Artificial Intelligence Act) (2024); Buolamwini and Gebru, Gender Shades: Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification (2018); NIST, Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0) (2023); Veale and Zuiderveen Borgesius, Demystifying the Draft EU Artificial Intelligence Act (2021); Wachter, Mittelstadt and Floridi, Why a Right to Explanation of Automated Decision-Making Does Not Exist in the General Data Protection Regulation (2017).
06At a glance
At a glance, with 5 related topics
AI and digital governance at a glance
risksacademy.comgovernance-policydiscipline
- Open, 0
- In preparation, 2
- Also taught here, 2
- Subtopics, 8
Nexus Standards it teaches and relies on
The Nexus Standards the discipline teaches toward, grouped by master standard, with the disciplines that teach each.
nexustandards.com/foundations · 1 taught
Foundations and Governance
NRS-M12 Policy, regulation and governance
1standard1discipline
Nexus Standards at the AcademyThe Academy proposes how each discipline teaches toward the Nexus Standards; the mapping is open for public review.
Research and tools
Research and preprints as they are published, by discipline, with the faculty's other tools.
The hub lists the newest research and preprints for AI and digital governance, each with its source and date. Open the research hub
Hazard families it covers
From the Academy's risk taxonomy: the discipline's own entries and those of its primary courses, with how many courses teach each.
Hazard families
- AI and algorithmic failure1 course
- Disinformation and information integrity1 course
What is changing now
Recent developments in aI and digital governance, each with its source; sources checked on 16 October 2026.
Courses in this discipline
Courses for this discipline are in development; until they open, study it through the connected courses and open lessons below.
Courses with this primary disciplineIn preparation
- RAS-413AI and Emerging Technology Risk GovernanceIn preparationSystems, L2 Intermediate, 10 hours (estimate)
Courses from connected disciplines that also teach this field
Each course has its primary discipline elsewhere and teaches this field as part of its scope.
07Labs
How the subject is practised in labs
| Lab | What you do in it | Courses using it |
|---|---|---|
| Network lab | Build dependency graphs, find critical nodes, trace cascades | 1 |
08Console
How AI and digital governance is taught, as a process you can run
Press Play to run this process from this page's own data.
09Practice
Practice, learning and connections
How technology helps and what risk it brings
Achievements in this discipline
Pathways that teach it
Where the subject is practised
- The Global Risks Forum (GRF)AI and Digital GovernanceAI oversight and accountability, Algorithmic public decisions, Autonomous agents and liability, Cyber and public infrastructure, Data governance and sharing, Digital rights and privacy, International AI cooperation, Technology procurement and standards
Field platforms of the ecosystem where the subject is studied and applied.
The two Foundry systems where it is practised
- FoundryNXS-NSF systemAuthorisation and assurance of AI useAuthority room, Assurance room
- NXS-NXQ systemFitness of models for a taskCompetence room
Foundry system pages describe what each system and its rooms are designed to do; the courses teach the methods these systems apply.
Disciplines it depends on
- Faculty of Technology and Digital SystemsArtificial intelligence and machine learningThe discipline covers how AI and machine learning systems are built and deployed, and the reliability.
- Department of Science, Technology and SocietyInformation integrity and public trustThe discipline covers the quality of the information ecosystem, the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
Across the ecosystem
10Take part
Take part in Governance, Policy and International Affairs
Start from who you are.
11References
Core references and where to begin
Start with European Parliament, then Veale, then OECD.
12Questions
Questions, answers and key terms
Is study here free?
Yes. Every course and learning material of Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium, is free to study, self-paced or with a cohort. Ordinary participation has no fee; paid work, internships and fellowships are separate arrangements.
What does completing a course give me?
A completion record: the course, its version, the date and what was assessed, private by default and shared by you. It stacks into discipline, department and programme achievements. A record states what was studied and assessed and does not certify competence; it is not a licence, a professional title or an employment status.
Where do the data and the places come from?
Every faculty teaches on a twin of a real place built from open data; each layer carries its provider, licence and date, and every result on the Academy states its source. Maps and figures are indicators for teaching, never an assessment of a place.
How do I take part beyond the courses in aI and digital governance?
Form a competence cell of three to seven people, study a shared pathway, take a supervised assignment in the National Working Groups, or bring a cohort from your institution. For organisations.
Key terms
Term
Risk-based regulation
Regulation that sets obligations in proportion to the risk a system poses.
Term
Algorithmic impact assessment
An assessment of the effects of an automated decision system before and during use.
Term
Human oversight
The ability of people to monitor, understand and override an automated system.
Term
Data protection
Legal and technical safeguards for personal data.
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.
Risk Academy
Related
Around AI and digital governance
AI and digital governance
Prepare with a related course
Open courses in connected disciplines teach the methods this discipline will build on.