Sphere
Glossary
The question this page answers: What does this acronym mean?
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Glossary
215 terms
Concepts, in plain words113 concepts
- Accredited entity
- An organisation approved to receive and manage a fund's money
- AIArtificial intelligence
- Software that performs tasks that used to need a person's judgement. On this site it is named only where the strategy names it.
- AI risk rating
- Low, Medium, High or Very high: how much harm a wrong output could do
- allocation
- The share of a fund's resources a board assigns to a country or theme.
- AMLAnti-money laundering
- Rules and processes that detect and prevent the disguising of proceeds of crime as legitimate funds. Named with CFT in the delivery catalogue.
- AML/CFTanti-money-laundering / countering the financing of terrorism
- Anti-money-laundering and countering the financing of terrorism
- Appraisal document
- The bank's full assessment of a proposed programme, on which the board decides
- Assessed contribution
- Compulsory dues a member state pays to an organisation
- Atlas
- Sphere's public catalogue of 1,030 AI use cases
- B-READYBusiness Ready
- Business Ready: the World Bank's benchmark of the business environment across ten topics
- Beneficial ownership
- Who ultimately owns or controls a company
- Bilateral
- Done by one country with another
- Blended finance
- Public or philanthropic money used to draw private investment into development
- call for proposals
- A funder's invitation to bid for a grant or a contract.
- Callable capital
- Money shareholders promise to pay a bank if ever needed; it backs the bank's credit rating
- CFTCombating the financing of terrorism
- Rules and processes that detect and prevent the funding of terrorist activity. Named with AML in the delivery catalogue.
- Chief risk officer
- The executive accountable for a firm's risk and its dealings with regulators
- Claude
- A frontier language model named in the strategy as one of the commoditised models every institution can reach through a hyperscaler.
- Cloud-First
- A government policy to prefer cloud services for new systems
- CMS-0057-F
- A United States health-regulator final rule on interoperability and prior authorisation
- co-financing
- A second funder paying alongside the first, often once a result is verifiable.
- Co-sell
- Two companies selling to the same client together
- Completion report
- The end-of-programme report on what was achieved
- Concessionalconcessional finance
- On softer terms than the market: low or zero interest, long maturities, or grants
- Conference of the partiesConference of the parties (COP)
- The decision-making meeting of the states that have joined a convention
- Constituencyshareholder constituency
- The group of countries one Executive Director or board member represents
- Country office
- An organisation's permanent team in one country
- Credits
- Metered units of compute and data consumption in an OrgBrain subscription
- CSOCivil society organisation
- A not-for-profit body of citizens, independent of government and business.
- Data minimisation
- Collecting and keeping only the data a task needs
- Decision of consequence
- A decision where being wrong costs money, liberty, safety, rights or lives, and someone must show afterwards what was read, what was concluded and who decided
- DFIdevelopment finance institution
- Development finance institution: usually owned by one government, invests in private companies in developing countries
- Do-no-harm
- The duty to avoid making things worse for the people a programme serves
- Domain agent
- An AI component scoped to one function, such as procurement review
- Earmarkedearmarked funding
- Tied by the donor to a specific use
- ETDA draftElectronic Transactions Development Agency
- Draft AI legislation from Thailand's Electronic Transactions Development Agency
- EUEuropean Union
- A regional organisation of member states, with its own institutions.
- EU AI ActEuropean Union Artificial Intelligence Act
- The European Union's law on artificial intelligence, in force since 2024. Its duties for high-risk systems are the EU high-risk rules the strategy names.
- EU high-risk rulesEuropean Union high-risk AI rules
- The EU AI Act's duties for high-risk AI systems
- Executive Director
- A board member of a development bank or the IMF who represents one country or a group of countries
- FATFFinancial Action Task Force
- The Financial Action Task Force: the body that sets global AML/CFT standards
- Financial intermediary fund
- A pooled fund held in trust by an MDB for a global purpose
- FIUfinancial-intelligence unit
- Financial-intelligence unit: the national body that receives and analyses suspicious-transaction reports
- Forward Deployed Engineer
- A Sphere engineer who builds inside the client's environment alongside its staff
- GDPGross domestic product
- The value of everything a country produces in a year. Used on the market page to size what a state buys and to put Sphere's model beside the size of an economy.
- Gemini
- A frontier language model named in the strategy as one of the commoditised models every institution can reach through a hyperscaler.
- generative AIGenerative artificial intelligence
- AI that produces text, images or other content from a prompt. The McKinsey and BCG figures on the market page are estimates of its productivity value.
- GovBrain
- The name for OrgBrain when deployed for the state
- Governing body
- The assembly or board through which members direct an organisation
- Government Data Cloud
- Cloud infrastructure reserved for a government's data
- GPT
- A frontier language model named in the strategy as one of the commoditised models every institution can reach through a hyperscaler.
- grant versus contract
- A grant funds a purpose; a contract buys a deliverable. Implementers bid for both.
- GTMGo-to-market
- How a company reaches its customers: which partners open the door, who buys, and in what order markets are entered.
- Guarantee facility
- A scheme that covers part of an investor's loss to make a deal bankable
- Horizontal spine
- The 70 atlas cases that recur across verticals, each rated Core, Adapted or Marginal
- Human-control mode
- In-the-loop, on-the-loop, in-command or automated-with-audit
- humanitarian cluster
- A sector coordination group in an emergency response, such as health or shelter.
- IGO
- Intergovernmental organisation: a body created by treaty between states
- Implementing partner
- An organisation funded to carry out a programme
- INGOInternational non-governmental organisation
- An NGO that works across many countries, often as a prime implementer that sub-grants to national partners.
- Inspection PanelWorld Bank Inspection Panel
- The World Bank's independent complaints body for people affected by its projects
- inspector general
- The office that investigates suspected misuse of funds.
- ITInformation technology
- Computing, software and the services around them. Gartner's worldwide IT spending figure is the reference the market page compares against.
- Knowledge graph
- Facts stored as linked entities and relationships
- LACLatin America and the Caribbean
- The region where Sphere's national programmes are live or starting: Ecuador, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and Colombia.
- Llama
- A frontier language model named in the strategy as one of the commoditised models every institution can reach through a hyperscaler.
- LLMLarge language model
- A general-purpose text model. Sphere's first principle is LLM-agnostic: the client chooses the model; OrgBrain sits above it.
- LLM-agnostic
- Works with any large language model, swappable without rebuilding
- Localisation
- Shifting money and decisions to national and local organisations
- Logframelogical framework
- A table linking a programme's activities to its intended results and indicators
- M&EMonitoring and evaluation
- Monitoring and evaluation: measuring whether a programme is doing what it promised
- Mandate
- The legal authority, by treaty or law, to act
- MDBMultilateral development bank
- Multilateral development bank: a bank owned by governments that lends and grants for development
- Multilateral
- Done by many countries together under agreed rules
- Neural Center
- OrgBrain's governed knowledge layer: a knowledge graph with every fact indexed to its source page
- NGONon-governmental organisation
- A not-for-profit body independent of any government. In this landscape, NGOs are often the implementing partners who deliver programmes on the ground.
- No-objection
- A bank's formal clearance of a borrower's procurement step
- ODAOfficial development assistance
- Official development assistance: government aid that meets the OECD definition
- Ontology
- The agreed list of things and relationships a knowledge graph may contain
- Operational technology
- Systems that run physical equipment such as plants, grids and pipelines
- OrgBrain
- Sphere's organisational intelligence layer, grounded in an institution's own records
- permanent secretary
- The senior civil servant of a ministry, answering to the minister and the cabinet.
- PHIprotected health information
- Protected health information
- pledge
- A donor's commitment of money at a replenishment conference.
- Prime and sub
- The lead implementer on a contract and the organisations it sub-contracts or sub-grants to
- Principal recipient
- The organisation that signs a grant and is accountable for it
- ProACT
- The World Bank's Procurement Anti-Corruption and Transparency platform
- Red line
- A kind of decision Sphere never automates
- Regulatory sandbox
- A supervised space where new technology is tested under a regulator's eye
- Replenishment
- A periodic round in which donors refill a fund or a bank's concessional arm
- Repricing
- Re-checking what a health claim should cost against contract terms
- Resident coordinator
- The UN's most senior development official in a country
- Results-based financing
- Payment released when agreed results are verified
- Safeguarding
- Protecting people from abuse or harm by those meant to help them
- Safeguardsenvironmental and social safeguards
- Environmental and social rules a financed programme must follow
- SDGsSustainable Development Goals
- The 17 Sustainable Development Goals agreed by UN member states in 2015
- SOEState-owned enterprise
- State-owned enterprise
- Sovereign loan
- A loan to a government, or guaranteed by one
- Sovereign region
- A cloud region built so data stays under one country's law
- SR 11-7
- United States banking supervisors' guidance on model risk management
- Supreme audit institution
- A country's national audit office
- Suspicious-transaction report
- A report a bank must file when a transaction looks like it may involve crime
- Task team leader
- The bank staff member responsible for one programme
- Technical review panel
- Independent experts who assess proposals for a fund
- Tenancy
- A client's own isolated space in a cloud or data centre
- Third-party administrator
- A firm that processes health claims on behalf of an employer or insurer
- Trust fund
- Donor money held and administered by an organisation for a stated purpose
- UNUnited Nations
- The organisation of member states, founded in 1945, whose agencies, funds and programmes set international norms and run much of the world's humanitarian caseload.
- Value at stake, serviceable market, obtainable revenue
- The three nested measures on /market: third-party value estimates; what buyers could spend on this layer; what Sphere's model shows it can win
- Verified impact ledger
- Programme results traced to source documents, signed, with every claim cited
- Voluntary contribution
- Money a donor chooses to give, often for a named purpose
- WebGLWeb Graphics Library
- The browser technology that draws 3D scenes. When it is missing or slow, this site shows the same information as a 2D diagram.
- World Development Report
- The World Bank's annual flagship report on one development theme
Institutions and acronyms102 institutions
- ADBAsian Development BankDimension: MDBs
- Asian Development Bank
- AFAdaptation FundDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Adaptation Fund. Named on the landscape as Adaptation Fund.
- AFDAgence Française de Développement, France's development agencyDimension: Governments & Public Agencies
- Agence Française de Développement, France's development agency
- AfDBAfrican Development BankDimension: MDBs
- African Development Bank
- AIIBAsian Infrastructure Investment BankDimension: MDBs
- Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
- AISAdvanced Info Service, the Thai operator named in the strategy as a sovereign cloud hostDimension: Private Sector
- Advanced Info Service, the Thai operator named in the strategy as a sovereign cloud host
- ASEANAssociation of Southeast Asian NationsDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- The regional grouping of ten Southeast Asian states, including Thailand, that coordinates economic and political cooperation.
- AUAfrican UnionDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- African Union
- BIIBritish International Investment, the United Kingdom's DFIDimension: MDBs
- British International Investment, the United Kingdom's DFI
- BMZ and GIZGermany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and its implementing agencyDimension: Governments & Public Agencies
- Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and its implementing agency
- BOADWest African Development BankDimension: MDBs
- West African Development Bank
- BRACInternational NGO founded in BangladeshDimension: NGOs & Implementing Partners
- International NGO founded in Bangladesh
- CABEICentral American Bank for Economic IntegrationDimension: MDBs
- Central American Bank for Economic Integration
- CAFDevelopment Bank of Latin America and the CaribbeanDimension: MDBs
- Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean
- CAREInternational humanitarian NGODimension: NGOs & Implementing Partners
- International humanitarian NGO
- CARICOMCaribbean CommunityDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- A regional organisation of Caribbean states. Maps to Sphere's Now geography.
- CBDConvention on Biological DiversityDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- Convention on Biological Diversity
- CDBCaribbean Development BankDimension: MDBs
- Caribbean Development Bank
- CEPICoalition for Epidemic Preparedness InnovationsDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations
- CGDCenter for Global DevelopmentDimension: NGOs & Implementing Partners
- Center for Global Development
- CGIARGlobal agricultural research partnershipDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Global agricultural research partnership
- CIFClimate Investment FundsDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Climate Investment Funds
- DAIDevelopment contractorDimension: NGOs & Implementing Partners
- Development contractor
- DEGGermany's DFIDimension: MDBs
- Germany's DFI
- DESAUN Department of Economic and Social AffairsDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
- DFATAustralia's Department of Foreign Affairs and TradeDimension: Governments & Public Agencies
- Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- DFCUnited States International Development Finance CorporationDimension: MDBs
- United States International Development Finance Corporation
- DPOUN Department of Peace OperationsDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Department of Peace Operations
- DPPAUN Department of Political and Peacebuilding AffairsDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
- EADBEast African Development BankDimension: MDBs
- East African Development Bank
- EBRDEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and DevelopmentDimension: MDBs
- European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
- ECOWASEconomic Community of West African StatesDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- Economic Community of West African States
- ECWEducation Cannot WaitDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Education Cannot Wait. Named on the landscape as Education Cannot Wait.
- EIBEuropean Investment BankDimension: MDBs
- European Investment Bank
- FAOFood and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- FCDOUnited Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeDimension: Governments & Public Agencies
- United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
- FHI 360United States non-profit human development organisationDimension: NGOs & Implementing Partners
- United States non-profit human development organisation
- FMOThe Dutch entrepreneurial development bankDimension: MDBs
- The Dutch entrepreneurial development bank
- FRLDFund for Responding to Loss and DamageDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. Named on the landscape as Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage.
- GACGlobal Affairs CanadaDimension: Governments & Public Agencies
- Global Affairs Canada. Named on the landscape as Global Affairs Canada.
- GAFSPGlobal Agriculture and Food Security ProgramDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Global Agriculture and Food Security Program
- GaviGavi, the Vaccine AllianceDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
- GCFGreen Climate FundDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Green Climate Fund
- GEFGlobal Environment FacilityDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Global Environment Facility
- GFFGlobal Financing Facility for Women, Children and AdolescentsDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents
- GPEGlobal Partnership for EducationDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Global Partnership for Education
- GPSDDGlobal Partnership for Sustainable Development DataDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. Named on the landscape as Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data.
- IBRDInternational Bank for Reconstruction and DevelopmentDimension: MDBs
- International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
- ICCInternational Chamber of CommerceDimension: Private Sector
- International Chamber of Commerce
- ICRCInternational Committee of the Red CrossDimension: NGOs & Implementing Partners
- International Committee of the Red Cross
- IDAInternational Development AssociationDimension: MDBs
- International Development Association
- IDBInter-American Development BankDimension: MDBs
- Inter-American Development Bank
- IEGIndependent Evaluation Group of the World Bank GroupDimension: MDBs
- Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank Group
- IFADInternational Fund for Agricultural DevelopmentDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- International Fund for Agricultural Development
- IFCInternational Finance CorporationDimension: MDBs
- International Finance Corporation
- IFRCInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent SocietiesDimension: NGOs & Implementing Partners
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
- ILOInternational Labour OrganizationDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- International Labour Organization
- IMFInternational Monetary FundDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- International Monetary Fund
- INTERPOLInternational Criminal Police OrganizationDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- International Criminal Police Organization
- IOMInternational Organization for MigrationDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- International Organization for Migration
- IRCInternational Rescue CommitteeDimension: NGOs & Implementing Partners
- International Rescue Committee
- IsDBIslamic Development BankDimension: MDBs
- Islamic Development Bank
- ITUInternational Telecommunication UnionDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- International Telecommunication Union
- JICAJapan International Cooperation AgencyDimension: Governments & Public Agencies
- Japan International Cooperation Agency
- KOICAKorea International Cooperation AgencyDimension: Governments & Public Agencies
- Korea International Cooperation Agency
- MIGAMultilateral Investment Guarantee AgencyDimension: MDBs
- Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
- MPTF OfficeUN Multi-Partner Trust Fund OfficeDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office
- MSFMédecins Sans Frontières, Doctors Without BordersDimension: NGOs & Implementing Partners
- Médecins Sans Frontières, Doctors Without Borders
- NDBNew Development BankDimension: MDBs
- New Development Bank
- NorfundNorwegian Investment Fund for Developing CountriesDimension: MDBs
- Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries
- OASOrganization of American StatesDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- Organization of American States
- OCHAUN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian AffairsDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- OCIOracle Cloud InfrastructureDimension: Private Sector
- Named in the strategy as the cloud under OrgBrain for the Thailand platform door, paired with AIS sovereign cloud.
- ODIODI Global, a think tankDimension: NGOs & Implementing Partners
- ODI Global, a think tank
- OECDOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- A treaty body of mostly high-income countries that sets economic and policy standards.
- OHCHROffice of the UN High Commissioner for Human RightsDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- OIOSUN Office of Internal Oversight ServicesDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- The UN's internal oversight office.
- OSFOpen Society FoundationsDimension: Private Sector
- Open Society Foundations. Named on the landscape as Open Society.
- PADFPan American Development FoundationDimension: NGOs & Implementing Partners
- A non-profit development organisation working across Latin America and the Caribbean, affiliated with the Organization of American States.
- PIFPacific Islands ForumDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- Pacific Islands Forum. Named on the landscape as Pacific Islands Forum.
- ProparcoFrance's DFI, a subsidiary of AFDDimension: MDBs
- France's DFI, a subsidiary of AFD
- SADCSouthern African Development CommunityDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- Southern African Development Community
- SidaSwedish International Development Cooperation AgencyDimension: Governments & Public Agencies
- Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
- SUNScaling Up NutritionDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Scaling Up Nutrition. Named on the landscape as Scaling Up Nutrition.
- SWASanitation and Water for AllDimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Sanitation and Water for All. Named on the landscape as Sanitation and Water for All.
- UN WomenUN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of WomenDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
- UNCCDUN Convention to Combat DesertificationDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Convention to Combat Desertification
- UNDPUN Development ProgrammeDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Development Programme
- UNEPUN Environment ProgrammeDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Environment Programme
- UNESCOUN Educational, Scientific and Cultural OrganizationDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
- UNFCCCUN Framework Convention on Climate ChangeDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
- UNFPAUN Population FundDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Population Fund
- UNHCROffice of the UN High Commissioner for RefugeesDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
- UNICEFUN Children's FundDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Children's Fund
- UNIDOUN Industrial Development OrganizationDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Industrial Development Organization
- UnitaidGlobal health agency hosted by WHODimension: Global Funds & Partnerships
- Global health agency hosted by WHO
- UNOPSUN Office for Project ServicesDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- UN Office for Project Services
- WBCSDWorld Business Council for Sustainable DevelopmentDimension: Private Sector
- World Business Council for Sustainable Development
- WBGWorld Bank GroupDimension: MDBs
- World Bank Group. Named on the landscape as World Bank Group.
- WFPWorld Food ProgrammeDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- World Food Programme
- WHOWorld Health OrganizationDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- World Health Organization
- WTOWorld Trade OrganizationDimension: Multilateral Institutions
- World Trade Organization
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