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NRS-H102 Nanotechnology and advanced materials; NRS-H103 Neurotechnology.
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Illustrative: branching futures, each branch weighted by its probability
Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Governance, Policy and International Affairs · Department of Science, Technology and Society
Responsible innovation, sandboxes, testbeds and technology assessment
Innovation and frontier technology governance
Innovation and frontier technology governance covers how new technologies and practices are developed, tested and adopted in the public interest: responsible innovation, experimental governance and sandboxes, testbeds, innovation ecosystems, technology transfer and technology assessment, and who bears the risks and benefits of an innovation.
- Courses
- In preparation
- Levels
- In development
- Labs
- In development
- Responsible innovation
- Experimental governance and sandboxes
- Innovation ecosystems
- Technology transfer
- Public interest innovation
- Frontier technology governance
- Testbeds and field trials
- Technology assessment
Courses in development extend the scope to one further subject: Technology assessment and responsible innovation practice.
02Maps
Build a twin of any place
Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow innovation and frontier technology 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
People and hazards in the Horn of Africa
Where people live, night-time lights and the floods and fires public institutions answer to, over the Horn of Africa.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 2
People and hazards
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.
People and hazards, framed on the Horn of Africa.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
- 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 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
- 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
- NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles 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.
- Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
- 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
- Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
- Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
- Active fires and thermal anomalies: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
- 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 policy makers, regulators, funders and innovators who must decide how new technologies and practices are tested and adopted in the public interest, and who bears their risks and benefits.
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 a readiness level to a market: what a regulatory sandbox changes in the pipeline
A technology at a stated readiness level enters a sandbox cohort; a share proceeds to authorisation after a testing period, and the months to general availability follow; the sandbox changes the pass rate and the timing, not the merit of the technology.
Sources: Stilgoe, Owen and Macnaghten, Developing a framework for responsible innovation (2013); OECD, Regulatory sandboxes in artificial intelligence (2023); Sabel and Zeitlin, Learning from Difference: The New Architecture of Experimentalist Governance in the EU (2008); Mazzucato, Mission-oriented innovation policies: challenges and opportunities (2018).
06At a glance
At a glance, standards and evidence, research and evidence, what is changing and learning
Innovation and frontier technology governance at a glance
risksacademy.comgovernance-policydiscipline
- Open, 0
- In preparation, 1
- Also taught here, 1
- 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.
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 Innovation and frontier technology governance, each with its source and date. Open the research hub
What is changing now
Recent developments in innovation and frontier technology 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.
The courses from connected disciplines below also teach this field.
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.
From connected disciplinesIn preparation
- RAS-413AI and Emerging Technology Risk GovernanceIn preparationSystems, L2 Intermediate, 10 hours (estimate), primary discipline: AI and digital governance
07Console
How Innovation and frontier technology governance is taught, as a process you can run
Press Play to run this process from this page's own data.
08Practice
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 Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI Canada)LabsField and lab testbeds
- The Global Risks Forum (GRF)Innovation NexusExperimental governance, Frontier technology governance, Innovation and society, Innovation ecosystems, Public interest innovation, Regional innovation systems, Responsible innovation, Technology transfer
- The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI Canada)Innovation
Field platforms of the ecosystem where the subject is studied and applied.
The two Foundry systems where it is practised
- FoundryNXS-LAB systemFrontier technology evaluationBenchmarks room
- NXS-NSF systemPolicy and standards for new technologyCommons room
Foundry system pages describe what each system and its rooms are designed to do; the courses teach the methods these systems apply.
Across the ecosystem
09Take part
Take part in Governance, Policy and International Affairs
Start from who you are.
10References
Core references and where to begin
Start with Stilgoe, then Sabel, then Schot.
11Questions
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 innovation and frontier technology 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
Responsible research and innovation
An approach that aligns research and innovation with society's values, needs and expectations.
Term
Regulatory sandbox
A controlled setting in which innovations are tested under supervision.
Term
Technology readiness level
A scale that describes the maturity of a technology from concept to operation.
Term
Technology assessment
The study of the possible effects of a technology on society.
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
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Around Innovation and frontier technology governance
Innovation and frontier technology governance
Prepare with a related course
Open courses in connected disciplines teach the methods this discipline will build on.