nexustandards.com/digital-ai · 2 taught
Digital, Cyber and AI
NRS-H54 Signal and platform disruption; NRS-H107 Digital infrastructure concentration and monoculture
2standards1discipline
Illustrative: a chain of blocks each linked by hash to the one before, with a Merkle tree under the newest
Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Technology and Digital Systems · Department of Cyber, Digital and Space Systems
Identity, payments, data exchange and the safeguards of public digital services
Digital public infrastructure and digital identity
Digital public infrastructure and digital identity covers the shared digital systems, such as foundational identity, payments and data exchange, that deliver services at societal scale, and their governance, safeguards and resilience.
- Courses
- In preparation
- Levels
- In development
- Labs
- In development
- Digital identity and authentication
- Digital payments and services
- Data exchange and interoperability
- Data spaces and rights
- Digital inclusion
- Digital service resilience
- Public cloud and concentration
- Safeguards and redress
Courses in development extend the scope to one further subject: Digital public infrastructure safeguards and resilience.
02Maps
Build a twin of any place
Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow digital public infrastructure and digital identity on the planet map, the globe and in 3D.
Technology and Digital SystemsAny placeTwin builder
- Terrain 0 to 245 m
- 4 satellite dishes
- 74 communication masts and towers
- 12 telephone exchanges
- 7 data centres and cable landing stations
- 12 aerodromes
- 1 telecom offices
- Communication line 161 km
- 729 known exploited vulnerabilities since 2023-10-17
- Night-time lights, VIIRS day-night band: read live when the 3D twin opens
Drag to move, right drag or Shift with a drag to turn and tilt, Ctrl with the wheel to zoom. Keyboard: arrows move, Shift with arrows turn and tilt, + and – zoom, 0 resets, V steps through the views, Escape clears.
1 live layer, checked 17 Oct 2026Date: newest
Places4
Layers5
iCredits
- Terrain Surface height in whole metres on a grid of about 240 by 370 metres, read from one overview of the 30 m product at build time; 0 at sea. Produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-30 © DLR e.V. 2010–2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014–2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. read 2026-10-17. Estimate: A digital surface model: trees and roofs are in the heights. Relief exaggeration is printed on the stage.
- Ground infrastructure Satellite dishes, communication masts and towers, telephone exchanges, data centres and cable landing stations, telecom offices and aerodromes, each as one point with its tags as mapped. © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0. data as of 2026-06-01. Estimate: Points as mapped by contributors: a missing feature means it is not mapped, not that it does not exist; operator and height tags are kept as tagged.
- Communication cables Submarine and terrestrial communication cables mapped by OpenStreetMap contributors inside the box, clipped to it, with their length in kilometres. © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0. data as of 2026-07-15. Estimate: OpenStreetMap-mapped cables at the extract date; never a complete or authoritative cable inventory.
- Known exploited vulnerabilities Catalogue entries added in the last three years with six fields: CVE id, vendor or project, product, date added, due date and the known ransomware campaign use flag. Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (CC0 1.0), snapshot 2026-10-17, catalogue version 2026.10.16. read 2026-10-17. Estimate: A dated snapshot, never a live or complete vulnerability feed; vendor and product names are the vendors' own marks shown as data; no CISA logo or DHS seal.
- Night-time lights, VIIRS day-night band Night-time radiance for the date shown, draped on the terrain, as a proxy for where settlements and sites draw power. VIIRS SNPP day-night band at-sensor radiance, NASA, via NASA GIBS, with the product date. Live: this page requests gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov when the layer is opened; the data date is printed with it. 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). Estimate: Satellite radiance with moonlight and cloud not corrected in this product; lights are a proxy, never a measurement of electricity supply, access or outages.
Why this place: One box of about 57 by 55 kilometres holds Goonhilly Earth Station (the ground segment of satellite communications since 1962 and a deep-space ground station today), the Porthcurno valley where transatlantic telegraph and later fibre cables came ashore, the Culdrose air station and the telecom masts of a rural peninsula, so the ground segment, cable landings and the resilience of positioning, navigation, timing and communication can be taught in one place. Data quality: OpenStreetMap coverage of the United Kingdom is complete for masts, dishes and named sites, Copernicus DEM GLO-30 covers the terrain in four tiles, and VIIRS night lights show where the digital economy draws power. It connects to the Space systems, space weather and navigation, cybersecurity, Digital public infrastructure and digital identity and Data infrastructure, compute and semiconductors disciplines of the atlas.
Flat plan of the same data: relief as contours from the inline grid, the mapped ground infrastructure by kind, the mapped cables and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices that can draw it, once its data and code have been checked.
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 the United Kingdom and Ireland
Night-time lights and population density, the footprint of electrified, connected activity, over the United Kingdom and Ireland.
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 the United Kingdom and Ireland.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 service designers, identity and payments architects, regulators and civil society analysts who must judge whether a shared digital system serves everyone, protects them and keeps running.
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 identity system's failure rate to the people it turns away: counting silent exclusion
When a public service authenticates through one identity platform, the share of people with an identity, the number of authentications a year and the failure rate per attempt multiply into failed attempts per thousand people, and the fallback that exists in practice, not on paper, decides how many of those become exclusions.
Sources: World Bank, Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development: Toward the Digital Age (2021); NIST, Digital Identity Guidelines (SP 800-63-4) (2025); Masiero and Bailur, Digital identity for development: The quest for justice and a research agenda (2021); Bhatia and Bhabha, India's Aadhaar scheme and the promise of inclusive social protection (2017).
06At a glance
At a glance, standards and evidence, research and evidence, what is changing and learning
Digital public infrastructure and digital identity at a glance
risksacademy.comtechnology-digitaldiscipline
- Open, 0
- In preparation, 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.
nexustandards.com/data · 1 taught
Data and Evidence
NRS-T13 Data and digital public infrastructure risk
1standard1disciplinenexustandards.com/assurance · 1 taught
Trust, Verification and Assurance
NRS-T7 Digital identity and trust infrastructure risk
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 Digital public infrastructure and digital identity, each with its source and date. Open the research hub
What is changing now
Recent developments in digital public infrastructure and digital identity, 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 connected disciplines below teach the methods it builds on.
07Console
How Digital public infrastructure and digital identity is taught, as a process you can run
Press Play to run this process from this page's own data.
08Learning
Learning, practice and connections
Achievements in this discipline
Course achievements
One for each course with this as its primary discipline, earned when you pass the course's assessed activities.
Cross-faculty: Digital public infrastructure and social protection
Courses in connected disciplines and a passed integrative task. In development.
An achievement is a record of the learning completed and assessed here. How recognition works.
Where the subject is practised
The three Foundry systems where it is practised
- FoundryNXS-NSF systemDigital identity, consent and authorisationAuthority room
- NXS-RLS systemGoverned data and payment exchangesHandoffs room
- NXS-NET systemThe connectivity public infrastructure depends onTopology 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
Across the ecosystem
09Take part
Take part in Technology and Digital Systems
Start from who you are.
10References
Core references and where to begin
Start with World Bank, then D'Silva, then Bhatia.
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 digital public infrastructure and digital identity?
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
Digital public infrastructure
Shared digital systems, such as identity, payments and data exchange, that enable services across society.
Term
Interoperability
The ability of systems to exchange and use information through agreed standards.
Term
Foundational identity
A general-purpose identity system that other services can rely on.
Term
Consent-based data sharing
Sharing of personal data only with the informed agreement of the person concerned.
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 Digital public infrastructure and digital identity
Digital public infrastructure and digital identity
Prepare with a related course
Open courses in connected disciplines teach the methods this discipline will build on.