The standard
The published standard used to assess the work
Independent Assayers assess each engagement against a published, versioned Standard. Assay Foundation stewards the register of Standards. The first is IDEA, currently v3; others may be admitted over time under the Foundation’s governance.
The register of Standards
One Standard today, built to admit more
A Standard fixes what an engagement is assessed against. The Standard Mark — the oval in the Hallmark — names the Standard and its version, so a reader can tell at a glance which requirements applied.
The register is designed to admit further Standards — sector variants of IDEA, or a separately named methodology contributed by another party — each versioned and published in the same way.
IDEA v3 · four conceptual gates
Four questions across the life of the work
IDEA follows an engagement through four conceptual gates, in sequence. Each asks one question; an engagement does not advance until it is answered with evidence.
- Gate 1
Specification
Is the right thing being built, against measurable success criteria?
- Gate 2
Implementation
Is it being built correctly, on fit data, with governance in place?
- Gate 3
Test & Acceptance
Does it meet the agreed thresholds, independently verified?
- Gate 4
Operation
Does it continue to perform in production, over time?
Four conceptual gates, seven operational
One process at two resolutions
The four gates above are the conceptual frame for reading IDEA. In operation the same sequence is expressed as seven operational gates, numbered 0 to 6. Gate 0 establishes the scope of the engagement; gates 1 to 6 map onto Specification, Implementation, Test & Acceptance and Operation. The two framings are kept reconciled and are never conflated.
The seven-gate schedule is what an independent Assayer works to, and what the Register records gate by gate for each engagement. The four-gate frame is what a reader needs in order to understand what was assessed.
Stewardship and openness
Published, versioned, developed in the open
Published. The methodology, its gate schedule and its acceptance criteria are available to read in full, so a buyer, an auditor or a Practitioner can see exactly what a Hallmark attests to.
Versioned. Each release carries a version. Records on the Register state the version they were assessed against — currently IDEA v3 — so the meaning of a Hallmark is fixed at the date it was issued and does not drift as the Standard develops.
Developed in the open. Changes are proposed, opened for comment and reconciled before they are adopted. The Foundation stewards the Standard rather than selling it, which keeps it independent of the work assessed against it.
Glossary
The terms, in short
- Standard
- A published, versioned set of requirements an engagement is assessed against.
- IDEA
- The current Standard. Four conceptual gates; seven operational gates.
- Engagement
- A specific, scoped piece of AI implementation work. The unit of assessment.
- An assay
- The assessment of one engagement against a Standard, carried out by an independent Assayer.
- Assayer
- An accredited, independent organisation that assesses engagements. An Assayer may not assess work in which it has a commercial interest.
- Hallmark
- The four-part mark attached to an engagement that passed: who built it, against which Standard, assessed by whom, and when. Never attached to a supplier.
- Practitioner
- A named individual whose work on the engagement is attributed by their mark.
- Register
- The public source of truth for issued Hallmarks and their history.
- Proving Register
- Reference evaluations used to test the Standard. Not Hallmarks.
- Assay Foundation
- Stewards the Standards, accredits Assayers and maintains the Register. It does not assess.