The Standard · The gate schedule
The gate schedule, explained
In operation, IDEA is expressed as seven escrow gates, numbered nought to six, set out in the Foundation's Trust Deed. They are the schedule an Accredited Assayer works to, and what the Register records gate by gate for each Engagement. The seven map onto the four conceptual gates without remainder.
- Gate 0 Specification
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Engagement & scope
Establishes the Engagement: the parties, the system in scope, the case population it will act on, and the terms under which it is put forward for assay.
- Gate 1 Specification
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Specification of intent
Fixes the success criteria as measurable thresholds, together with the cases the system must refuse or escalate. Nothing measured later may be agreed after this point.
- Gate 2 Implementation
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Data & build fitness
Tests the provenance, permission, and representativeness of the data the system was built on, and records known gaps.
- Gate 3 Implementation
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Governance & control
Confirms change control, access control, version records for model and data, and a named owner accountable for the system.
- Gate 4 Test & Acceptance
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Independent test
Measures the system against the Specification thresholds on a held-out evaluation, assembled or reviewed by the Assayer. This is the gate most often returned for correction.
- Gate 5 Test & Acceptance
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Acceptance
Records the formal result against each threshold — met or not met, on first submission or after resubmission — and the Assayer’s determination to proceed.
- Gate 6 Operation
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Operation & monitoring
Confirms monitoring for drift and degradation, alert and withdrawal thresholds, and the route by which the Engagement returns for re-assay when it materially changes.
Gate nought establishes the Engagement and its scope; the gates then map upward, gate by gate, to Operation. An Engagement does not advance to a gate until the gate before it has passed.
The four conceptual gates of IDEA are the public frame; the seven operational gates are their working expression. They reconcile as follows.
- Specification
- Gates 0–1
- Implementation
- Gates 2–3
- Test & Acceptance
- Gates 4–5
- Operation
- Gate 6
The gate schedule is not only internal procedure; it is published. Each Engagement on the Register carries its full gate record — for every gate, whether it passed, the date it passed, and whether it passed on first submission or only after the work was returned for correction. A resubmission, where one occurred, most often lands at the independent test at Gate 4.
This means a reader can see not only that an Engagement was Hallmarked but how it earned the mark: cleanly on first submission, or after correction. The record is permanent. It is the difference between a certificate and a claim.