Open standards development: standards that apply

The 2 standards listed for open standards development in the registry, each with its status, UNI (Unique Nexus Identifier) and the rules stated in its text.

Back to Open standards development All programme areas

01NS-0

Constitution and principles

Status proposed · trust, authorization and assurance · NXS-STD-ST-000004

Rule	Text
`NS0-P1`	Open · The standards, their registries, schemas, catalogs and reference tools are published in the canonical repository under the licences recorded in `LICENSING.md`. Participation in development is open to every community and stakeholder under `GOVERNANCE.md`. No standard depends on a proprietary artifact, product, account or mark to be applied.
`NS0-P2`	Machine-readable first · Every normative element exists as data (registry, schema, clause) before it exists as prose; prose explains, data governs. A standard with no machine form is not a Nexus Standard.
`NS0-P3`	Identified · Every artifact, record, deployment, policy and clause carries a UNI (NS-1, NS-3, NS-9). Nothing is cited by a name alone.
`NS0-P4`	Verified, not asserted · Conformance is a claim with evidence: receipts, digests, signed attestations and observations (NS-11). A claim without evidence is recorded as a claim, never as a fact, and the claim ceiling of the implementation bounds every statement it makes.
`NS0-P5`	Zero trust · Authenticated is not authorized; entitled is not authorized; access is denied by default. Every verification, monitoring and enforcement path assumes no implicit trust between systems, tenants, sites or agents, and records who verified what under which mandate.
`NS0-P6`	Real-time · Standards express obligations that can be evaluated continuously against live records (observations, releases, corrections, deployments), and the standards themselves are versioned so that an implementation can state exactly which version it conforms to at any instant.
`NS0-P7`	Provenance everywhere · Every artifact records what it was derived from, who produced it, under which release and policy decision, and what corrected it (NS-3b, PROV-O profile). Corrections supersede; nothing is silently rewritten.
`NS0-P8`	Honest · A UNI identifies and resolves; it never certifies. `legalState` defaults to review-required. Readiness, approval and production status are never implied by a standard, a status, a page, a score or a badge.
`NS0-P9`	Nexus-aware · Standards address cross-domain interdependence (water, energy, food, health, biodiversity, climate and the sectors they touch) explicitly: an obligation can reference artifacts in another domain, and cascades are first-class.
`NS0-P10`	Names are governed · Codes are never names. Public names follow the marks policy (`governance/OPEN_BOUNDARY_IPR_AND_LICENSING.md`, section 7). A system or component is shown by its neutral display name and its UNI; the UNI may change with context (NS-9), and no name infringes anyone's mark.
`NS0-P11`	Community-owned development · Proposals, comments, decisions and versions of every standard are themselves artifacts with UNIs. The development process is specified (NS-13) and open, and authority to adopt is recorded, never assumed.
`NS0-P12`	Fail closed · Missing evidence, a missing legal state, a missing policy decision or unavailable verification results in a refusal with a typed reason, never in a pass.

Read NS-0 in full

02Earth observation

Population, settlement and hazards in Africa

The map frames Africa as an example geography for open standards development; the frame gives context and is not a statement of where the standards apply. Shown at first: population density, 2020 (Gridded Population of the World v4.11, NASA SEDAC, CIESIN, Columbia University) and night-time lights, daily (VIIRS Black Marble, VNP46A2, NASA LAADS DAAC). The layer drawer adds flood water, 3-day composite (VIIRS Global Flood Product); active fires and thermal anomalies, last day (VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m, FIRMS); and true colour (VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance). NASA products are served through NASA GIBS under NASA's open data policy, with acknowledgement; population density is GPW v4.11 by CIESIN, Columbia University, under CC BY 4.0; coastlines, boundaries and place names come from NASA GIBS reference layers (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL) and Natural Earth (public domain). Each layer shows its own observation date; full credits are given under the map. Other sources of the profile, such as IETF Datatracker API and W3C technical reports feed, are listed for reference.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 2

People and hazards

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.

Where people live, night-time lights and the floods and fires public institutions answer to, framed on Africa.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; 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: 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, last day: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026

03NS-13

Standards development process (open proposals, review, versioning, adoption)

Status proposed · trust, authorization and assurance · NXS-STD-ST-000008

Rule	Text
`NS13-R1`	Every change to a standard, registry, clause or policy shall enter through a proposal with a UNI.
`NS13-R2`	Participation shall be open and free of charge; identity shall be recorded (ORCID iD, ROR ID or an agent mandate); decisions shall be reasoned in writing.
`NS13-R3`	Last call shall be announced to every stakeholder group listed on the proposal; objections shall be dispositioned before acceptance.
`NS13-R4`	Editors shall not adopt; authority decisions shall be recorded by reference.
`NS13-R5`	Versions shall be semantic; registries shall be append-only; existing UNIs shall not be invalidated.

Read NS-13 in full

04Questions

Questions and answers.

Are these all the rules for open standards development?

They are the rules stated by the listed standards. The principles of NS-0 bind every standard; clauses specific to the area, where needed, are written under NS-10 and evaluated under NS-11.

What does a rule identifier such as NS1-R5 denote?

The number of the standard and the number of the rule within it. Rule identifiers are stable so that clauses, attestations and publications can cite them.

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Nexus Standards

Shape the standards for open standards development.

Governments, regulators, standards bodies, industry, academia and communities are invited to shape the catalogue ahead of its first official release, targeted for 2030: comment on a draft, propose a change, join a working group or host a field exercise.

Propose a change Roadmap to 2030 Adopt and implement

Status and use. The Nexus Standards are proposed standards developed through an open process under NS-13 and published for voluntary use; they do not constitute certification, accreditation or regulatory approval, and adoption remains a decision of the Global Standards Council and, in each country, of its National Standards Council. A UNI (Unique Nexus Identifier) identifies an artifact; it does not certify it. Names of standards bodies and their standards belong to their stewards and are used only to identify the documents; no text of an external standard is reproduced here. Nexus Standards is not affiliated with, endorsed by or certified by any standards body named here.

Licences: CC BY 4.0 for standards text, registries, schemas and data; Apache-2.0 for reference code. External standards are cited by name, number and link under their own licences. Third-party data, libraries and fonts keep their own licences: see Third-party notices.