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Version: Stage 4 - Public Review Archive

Glossary

Public Review

This document is a supporting deliverable for the project. This means that it is not listed in the original project brief as a deliverable but provides supporting information and explanations that the project team believe are useful for reviewers and implementers.

This document contains acronyms and key terms used in the project documentation. The expansions and definitions used here gives their meaning and use in the project context.

These acronyms and terms may have other meaning(s) outside of this project, we do not claim that these should be the generally accepted meaning, but within this project, these terms are defined and used as shown below.

List of acronyms​

AI
Artificial Intelligence
AML
Anti-Money Laundering. Regulations and procedures designed to prevent financial crimes, money laundering, and terrorism financing.
CDD
Customer Due Diligence. A phrase denoting the regulatory requirement to perform sufficient checks on a prospective customer before offering them services. Typically used in a financial services context. See KYC and AML.
CFT:
Countering the Financing of Terrorism. A phrase used in international financial services regulation to denote laws, regulations and practices to prevent the financing of terrorist organisations. See also CTF.
CTF
Counter Terrorism Financing. A phrase used in Australian financial services regulation to denote laws, regulations and practices to prevent the financing of terrorist organisations. See also CFT.
DIA
Digital Identity Anchor
DID
Decentralized Identifier
DMR
Data Management Request
DPI
Digital Public Infrastructure (in this project context)
ECCMA
Electronic Commerce Code Management Association.
genAI
Generative AI. Artificial intelligence systems capable of generating content (such as text, code, or images), often using Large Language Models (LLMs).
GRID
Global Registry Information Directory
GTR
Global Trust Registry (historical reference to the project name)
JSON
JavaScript Object Notation. A text-based data-interchange format that humans can read and write, and machines can parse and generate.
JSON-LD
JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data. A lightweight and machine and human readable data format that provides a way to structure and connect data on the web using the established JavaScript Object Notation. "Linked Data" means it uses a shared vocabulary (like the one found on Schema.org) to add context and meaning, making it easier for machines to understand the information.
KYB
Know Your Business. A phrase used to describe the regulatory requirement imposed on a business that it must understand the nature of another business that it deals with. For example, the offering of banking services to a company demands that the bank has checked that the company is a recognised legal entity.
KYC
Know Your Customer. Can also be expressed as Customer Due Diligence (CDD). Often used in a regulatory context where there is a requirement for a service provider (such as a bank) to sufficiently identify and check the credentials of someone before offering them services.
SME
Small to Medium sized Enterprise, also SMB - Small to Medium sized Business.
TOM
Target Operating Model. Used to describe the structure, process, platform and other elements of operation of an organisation.
UNTP
United Nations Transparency Protocol
VC
Verifiable Credential

List of terms and definitions​

Authenticity of Evidence
Supporting documents must be official and verifiable (official gazette, qualified e-signature/seal, certified extract; apostille/legalization where applicable).
Authoritative Register
A register that, under the law of a jurisdiction, serves as a trusted and authoritative source of official information. See also Register.
Authoritative Registrar
The body that, under the law of a jurisdiction, holds the legal authority and responsibility for an Authoritative Register. See also Registrar
Certificate of Registration
An official document or digital credential issued by the register to attest the existence, validity, or current status of a registration, with evidentiary or enforceable value.
Chain of Title
The chronological record of successive legal holders or rightsholders as reflected in a register, used to establish legitimacy and prevent conflicts or overlapping claims.
Credential Issuer
The authoritative entity (often the registry itself) that issues verifiable credentials or official attestations on the basis of registered information.
Cut-off Date
The date by which GRID-DMRs must be received to be include in a Release. Later requests roll to a subsequent Release, subject to out-of-cycle handling for security. See also "Release" and "GRID Data Maintenance Request"
Decentralized Identifier (DID)
Source: https://glossary.trustoverip.org/\\#term:decentralized-identifier A globally unique persistent identifier that does not require a centralized registration authority and is often generated and/or registered cryptographically. The generic format of a DID is defined in the W3C Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) specification. A specific DID scheme is defined in a DID method specification.
Digital Identity Anchor (DIA)
A Digital Identity Anchor (DIA) is a Verifiable Credential defined by UNTP. In the context of the GRID, a DIA is issued by an Authoritative Registrar. It binds a legally recognized identifier issued by the Authoritative Registrar to a Decentralized Identifier (DID) controlled by the registered entity. The DIA does not constitute a new legal identifier and does not alter the legal status of the entity under applicable law.
Electronic Commerce Code Management Association
A Standards Development Organization (SDO) recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ECCMA is the current project leader for the development of ISO 8000, ISO 22745, and ISO 25500. See https://eccma.org/.
Global Registry Information Directory (GRID)
The name of the project and the proposed system. Originally a working title given by the UN/CEFACT GTR project in 2025 for the organisation and system providing a global directory of authoritative registrars, in 2026 the GTR project was renamed the GRID project.
Global Trust Registry (GTR) Project
Historical. The original name for the UN/CEFACT project titled "Global Trust Registry" started in April 2025. This was later changed to the GRID project in recognition of the better fit and increasing adoption of the "GRID" term.
GRID Data Maintenance Request (GRID-DMR)
Standardized instrument for lifecycle actions - NEW (listing), UPD(update), COR (correction), SUS (suspension), REA (re-activation), RET (retirement/delisting).
GRID Participant
An entity admitted to the GRID.
GRID Recognition
A GRID listing of a participating Registrar and their register(s) in the GRID. It does not imply legal certification, validation, or endorsement.
GRID Record
The authoritative, versioned entry for a Scheme in the GRID, including mandatory metadata (resolver templates, Issuer DID(s), lifecycle status and change history).
Issuer DID
The Decentralized Identifier controlled by an Authoritative Registrar and used to issue Digital Identity Anchors.
Key Ceremony & Key Rollover
Controlled procedure for generating/rotating/retiring cryptographic keys used in trust-list signing or Issuer DID operations. Key Rollover: managed transition to new keys (pre-announcement, dual-publishing, post-event guidance).
Legal Effect
The recognized consequence under the applicable law that arises from the registration or certification of data, including the creation, confirmation, or enforceability of rights, obligations, or statuses.
List of Trusted Lists (LOTL)
See Trusted List. A list of trusted listed is a meta-listing that signs and references subsidiary TLs.
National Focal Point (NFP)
The competent national authority designated by a Member State as the State's official interface with UNBODY for admission, updates, suspension and retirement of Schemes.
Operator
The technical operator appointed by UNBODY to run day-to-day GRID services under a Service-Level Agreement (SLA).
Participant
An entity admitted to the GRID by decision of UNBODY in accordance with the Governance Requirements (including Scheme Owners and any other category defined by UNBODY). See also "GRID Participant".
Public Legal Register
A register that is managed or supervised by a public authority and whose entries produce legal effects under national law, including opposability to third parties, legal presumption, or constitutive value. For the purposes of the UN/CEFACT GRID, the registers of interest are those that register supply chain relevant information such as Organisations, Land Assets, Trademarks, Compliance Certificates, Licenses etc.
Register
The dataset containing records.
Registrar
The entity that maintains the register.
Registry
Refers collectively to both the organization (Registrar) and its data (Register).
Release
Scheduled publication of approved GRID changes with a Secretariat Note. See also "Cut Off Date".
Resolver Template
A documented URL construction pattern enabling deterministic retrieval/dereferencing of public information for a Scheme's identifiers.
Scheme
An identifier system operated by an Authoritative Register under a valid legal mandate.
Scheme Owner
The public authority (or intergovernmental body) mandated to operate a Scheme.
Status (Candidate / Active / Suspended / Delisted)
Lifecycle states of a Scheme's GRID Record.
Statutory Notice Effect
A legal effect whereby the information recorded in a register is deemed known by third parties, regardless of actual knowledge, enabling legal enforceability and protection against good-faith claims.
Trusted List (TL)
Machine-readable, signed list under UN BODY's authority enumerating trusted Issuer DID(s) and parameters. LOTL: "List of Trusted Lists" - an optional meta-listing that signs and references subsidiary TLs.
UNBODY
A placeholder for the specific United Nations entity designated to administer and oversee GRID operations.
Verification
The process of cryptographically checking that a credential was signed by the claimed issuer and has not been altered since it was created. Verification proves technical integrity and origin, but does not inherently guarantee the legal or real-world accuracy of the contained data.
Verifiable Credential (VC)
A tamper-evident digital credential whose author can be cryptographically verified. While VCs can contain statements about any subject, the GRID specifically issues a UNTP defined type called a "Digital Identity Anchor" (DIA), conforming to the W3C VC Data Model 2.0. (Other verifiable formats include X.509 certificates, mDocs, and vLEIs).
Verification Path
Operator checks confirming legal mandate, authenticity, domain/DID control and resolver correctness.

Expression of Requirements​

The following approach is used in the project documentation when defining requirements.

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.

Public Review Closed

The formal Stage 4 public review period has ended, and we are currently in the Deliverable Acceptance Check phase. If you have urgent inquiries regarding this document, please reach out to the project team.