Glossary

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

CDD

Customer Due Diligence

CFT

Countering the Financing of Terrorism. See also CTF.

CTF

Counter Terrorism Financing. 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

GRID

Global Registry Information Directory

GTR

Global Trust Registry (historical reference to the project name)

JSON

JavaScript Object Notation

JSON-LD

JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data

KYB

Know Your Business

KYC

Know Your Customer

SME

Small to Medium sized Enterprise, also SMB - Small to Medium sized Business.

TOM

Target Operating Model

UNTP

United Nations Transparency Protocol

VC

Verifiable Credential

List of terms and definitions

Anti-Money Laundering

Regulations and procedures designed to prevent financial crimes, money laundering, and terrorism financing.

As-Of (Point-in-Time) Verification

The process of evaluating the validity, authenticity, and legal standing of a credential, registration, or public key at a specific past transaction timestamp, T_tx, rather than against the current state at the time of verification, T_verify.

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 UN Member State jurisdiction, serves as the legal source of official register information and whose authority is traceable to an identifiable legal or institutional basis within the relevant jurisdiction and scope. See also Register.

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.

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 Counter Terrorism Financing.

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 Countering the Financing of Terrorism.

Credential Issuer

The authoritative entity (often the registry itself) that issues verifiable credentials or official attestations on the basis of registered information.

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 Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering.

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/.

Generative AI

Artificial intelligence systems capable of generating content (such as text, code, or images), often using Large Language Models (LLMs).

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 Operator

The technical operator appointed by UNBODY to run day-to-day GRID services under a Service-Level Agreement (SLA).

GRID Participant

An entity admitted to the GRID. See also "GRID Member"

GRID Participation Status

The administrative standing of a Registrar within the GRID directory. Controlled and published by the GRID Secretariat and Board. Normative states are:

• Applicant: The Registrar has applied and is undergoing eligibility vetting.
• Member: The Registrar is fully admitted, listed, and recognized in the active discovery layer.
• Suspended: Participation is temporarily halted due to administrative review, non-payment, or security incident.
• Withdrawn: The Registrar voluntarily ended participation; removed from active discovery and preserved in the archive.
• Delisted: The Registrar was formally removed for cause by the GRID Board; preserved in the archive.
• Preserved in Archive: Inactive status indicating records are retained strictly for point-in-time historical verification.

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).

Historical Verification Archive

An append-only, tamper-evident repository maintained by the GRID Technical Operator containing all historical directory releases, cryptographic public keys, snapshot manifests, and status transitions, ensuring that past transactions remain verifiable even after a Registrar is withdrawn or rotated.

Indeterminate Verification Result

An explicit verification outcome indicating that available evidence is insufficient to prove validity or invalidity at the specified transaction time (T_tx). Verifiers SHALL NOT infer validity or invalidity from the current state when an evaluation is Indeterminate.

Issuance Time (T_issue) : The date and time at which a digital record, attestation, or credential was cryptographically signed by the issuer.

Issuer DID

The Decentralized Identifier controlled by an Authoritative Registrar and used to issue Digital Identity Anchors.

JavaScript Object Notation

A text-based data-interchange format that humans can read and write, and machines can parse and generate.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Registrar Legal Mandate Status

The legal standing and operational authority of an Authoritative Registrar under the domestic law of its governing UN Member State. Maintained authoritatively by the Member State. Normative states are:

• Active : The statutory mandate to maintain the register is in full legal effect.
• Suspended : The legal mandate is temporarily stayed or placed under statutory administration.
• Expired : A time-limited statutory mandate or charter has elapsed without renewal.
• Under Review : The statutory mandate is subject to legislative re-organization or judicial determination.

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.

Snapshot Manifest

A cryptographically signed manifest issued by the GRID Hub for each directory release, containing the cryptographic hash of the directory dataset, the pipeline execution identifier, publication timestamp, and the GRID Hub signature.

Status Effective Time (T_eff)

The time interval [T_start, T_end] during which an asserted legal status or registration record was legally operative under applicable law.

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.

Target Operating Model

Used to describe the structure, process, platform and other elements of operation of an organisation.

Transaction Time (T_tx)

The date and time at which the underlying business transaction, contract execution, customs declaration, or physical shipment occurred.

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 Key Status

The cryptographic standing of an Authoritative Registrar's signing key. Normative states are:

• Active : The key is currently authorized to sign metadata or issue DIAs.
• Rotated : The key has been superseded by a planned rollover; preserved for historical verification.
• Compromised : The key has been declared compromised; unauthorized for any signature created at or after the compromise timestamp.
• Retired : The key has reached the end of its cryptographic validity period without compromise.

Verification Path

Operator checks confirming legal mandate, authenticity, domain/DID control and resolver correctness.

Verification Time (T_verify) : The date and time at which a relying party cryptographically evaluates a credential or directory record.

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.