Defined terms

Adaptive Stability D6

The sixth dimension. Whether governance keeps pace as the system changes, so that controls The body that publishes and maintains DSI 001, hosts the framework, crosswalks and registers, and authorises assessors to operate under the DSI 001 scheme. Decision Standards Institute Ltd, ACN 699 264 376.

Assessed State 01

The entry classification. Awarded to a system that has completed a full dimensional assessment, regardless of its Governance Benchmark Index. Assessed carries a 60-day reliance window. It is not certification and does not qualify for Compliant or Certified reliance.

The independent evaluation of an autonomous system's governance across the six dimensions, conducted by the assessor over the evidence window, producing a Governance Benchmark Index and a classification. Assessment is distinct from preparation: the party that prepares a system cannot be the party that assesses it.

Autonomous system (in scope)

A system that makes, or substantially influences, consequential decisions. Whether a system is in scope for DSI 001 is determined by this property, not by the underlying technology.

Autonomy Gradient D1

The first dimension. How much of the system runs without a human approving each decision.

Certified State 03

The highest classification. Awarded where the Governance Benchmark Index is at or below 1.75. Validity is 24 months, with mandatory interim surveillance.

Commercial Leverage D5

The fifth dimension. How dependent the business is on the system continuing to run.

Compliant State 02

The intermediate classification. Awarded where the Governance Benchmark Index is at or below 2.50. Valid for 12 months.

Contract Infrastructure D3

The third dimension. Whether liability is allocated across the contract chain that surrounds the system.

Data Sensitivity Exposure D2

The second dimension. What is exposed if a decision is wrong.

Decision Standards Institute

The body that publishes and maintains DSI 001, hosts the framework, crosswalks and registers, and authorises assessors. Decision Standards Institute Ltd, ACN 699 264 376. It does not assess.

Decision Supply Chain

The sequence through which an autonomous decision is produced, from design through deployment and operation to outcome. The six dimensions assess structural properties of this chain that determine whether outcomes can be traced, attributed and governed.

DSI 001

The system-level governance classification and evidence standard published by the Decision Standards Institute, used before institutions insure, fund, approve, procure, lend to or rely on an autonomous system.

Evidence Infrastructure Standard (EIS-01)

The standard under which governance evidence is graded for completeness and quality. EIS-01 determines the evidence tier recorded for each dimension during an assessment.

Evidence tier

The grade assigned, under EIS-01, to the evidence supporting a dimension. Evidence tiers describe the strength of the record behind a score, alongside the score itself.

Evidence window

The period over which an assessment examines contemporaneous governance evidence. Distinct from the reliance window.

Governance Benchmark Index (GBI)

The score that expresses an assessed system's governance posture on a scale from 1.0, the strongest posture, to 5.0, critical exposure. Lower is stronger. The inversion is intentional. A GBI result is authentic only when issued by an assessor authorised by Decision Standards Institute under the DSI 001 scheme, against the methodology; self-scored or indicative figures are not DSI 001 results.

Independence (prepare-or-assess separation)

The principle that the party which prepares or supports a system for assessment cannot be the party that assesses it, mirroring the independence of financial audit: the auditor does not prepare the accounts. The separation is what keeps a result portable and credible at the point of reliance.

Liability Architecture D4

The fourth dimension. Whether the consequences of autonomous action are recognised and allocated, rather than left to fall where they may.

Material-change trigger

A change to the system or its context significant enough to require reassessment before the scheduled cycle.

Readiness Profile

A document-based diagnostic, delivered by the assessor, that shows priority build areas before a full assessment. Its fee is creditable against a subsequent assessment. Readiness support and assessment are kept separate by design.

Reliance window

The period for which an Assessed classification remains current for institutional reliance: 60 days from issue. Distinct from the evidence window, which is the look-back period the assessment examines.

Surveillance

Interim review within a Certified cycle, confirming that governance posture has been maintained between full reassessments.

Unclassified State 00

The absence of any external governance classification. A system that has not been assessed under DSI 001.