Experiment ID: CC-EXP-C05-CONF-02
Version: 0.1
Date: 19 September 2026
Candidate: Assessment Assertion Profile — working concept
Standing: INTERNAL — PRIOR-ART / STANDARDS REDUCTION. NO COMMONS ADMISSION OR PUBLICATION AUTHORISED.
Question
Does Commons need a new Assessment Assertion Profile, or can it be reduced to guidance/profile semantics over established validation, provenance, test, audit and credential models?
Result
PASS WITH REDUCTION — RETAIN THE ASSESSMENT ASSERTION CONCEPT; DO NOT DEFINE A UNIVERSAL CONFORMANCE/OUTCOME VOCABULARY.
The cross-domain semantic gap remains:
an identifiable assertion about the result of assessing a declared subject/aspect against an explicit basis, with reconstructable method/provenance/scope.
Standards reduction
SHACL: already distinguishes constraints/shapes, target data, validation process, validation results/report and conformance. Reuse SHACL in its domain. SHACL result ≠ organisational acceptance ≠ authority ≠ runtime admissibility.
PROV-O: reuse assessment activity/agent/evidence/result/derivation/time provenance. Do not create assessment provenance ontology.
Test/audit/assurance: subject, criteria, procedure, evidence and finding are established patterns. Commons contribution is cross-domain interoperability/standing separation, not invention.
Certification/credentials: certification is separately governed status/credential that may use assessment evidence. Keep outside Assessment Assertion.
Outcome vocabulary
REJECT universal Commons outcomes for now.
Do not mint universal CONFORMS/PARTIAL/CONDITIONAL/INDETERMINATE semantics where domain regimes already define outcomes.
Require assessment_outcome_ref/value with declared semantics, preferably from applicable basis/domain vocabulary.
Refined candidate core
Required:
- assessment_assertion_id
- subject_ref
- subject_aspect/scope
- assessment_basis_ref
- assessment_outcome_ref/value
- assessment_provenance
Required when material:
- basis version/profile
- method/procedure
- time/environment/jurisdiction
- evidence refs
Optional/linked:
- assessor/tool
- limitations/qualification
- conflict refs
- supersession/revalidation
- conformance claim
- acceptance/exception/certification refs
Anti-collapse rules
- assessment ≠ acceptance
- assessment ≠ certification
- conformance ≠ authority
- conformance ≠ runtime admissibility
- observed success ≠ complete conformance
- implementation ≠ conformance
- basis/reference ≠ authority by default
RRAP/QMAP
RRAP qualifies roles of assessment artefacts/evidence.
QMAP may map requirements/controls/concepts.
Neither mapping nor role assignment establishes assessment outcome.
Naming
Assessment Assertion Profile remains working descriptive name. Public acronym/name deferred.
Decision
CC-EXP-C05-CONF-02 — PRIOR-ART / STANDARDS REDUCTION PASS.
Advance to hard semantic counterexamples.
No admission/publication/namespace/schema authorised.
CC-EXP-C05-CONF-03 — Assessment Assertion Semantic Stability & Hard Counterexample Test v0.1