IX · Open Decisions for the Council

Three to ratify. Four reserved for Riyadh.

Each decision shows the candidate options and the working recommendation. The recommendation is a starting point, not a default — the Council ratifies.

DECISION · 01

Which three SDG clusters to activate the index for first?

Options

Health & Surgical Access (SDG 3)

Most quantifiable cost-of-non-service. Established measurement infrastructure.

Financial Inclusion (SDG 8+10)

Mobile rails already exist. Clearest commercial signal.

Education & Skills (SDG 4)

Mature outcome metrics. Long horizon ROI.

Food Security (SDG 2)

High geopolitical sensitivity. Harder to standardize.

Climate Resilience (SDG 13)

Vital but methodology nascent for cost-of-non-service.

Working recommendation

Health, Financial Inclusion, and Education — clearest commercial signals.

DECISION · 02

Legal structure for the market infrastructure organisation?

Options

Independent nonprofit + commercial subsidiary

Index licensing as revenue. Risk: capture if commercial arm dominates.

Hosted at WEF or research university

Speed and legitimacy. Risk: institutional inertia.

Open-standards foundation (Apache / IETF model)

Prevents capture; requires explicit governance design.

Working recommendation

Open-standards foundation, with WEF and Saudi Expo 2030 as founding institutional members.

DECISION · 03

Who builds the index — and who owns it?

Options

Build with technical partner (Accenture / Deloitte / PwC)

Speed; needs explicit IP transfer.

Commission an academic institution (Stanford / Oxford / MIT)

Methodology rigor; potentially slower.

Co-build with existing data platform (World Bank / IHME)

Distribution baked-in; governance trade-offs.

Working recommendation

Commission build with technical partner; open-source on completion; govern via the standards foundation.

DECISIONS · 04 · 05 · 06 · 07

Reserved for the Saudi Expo session

Formal relationship structure · award design · 2028 pavilion mechanism · index integrity backstop.