Methodology
IDEA, version III, published
The third version of the IDEA Methodology is now published in full, and is the version against which Engagements are assayed.
The Assay Foundation has published version III of the IDEA Methodology, the Stewarded Standard against which AI implementation Engagements are assayed. The methodology, its seven-gate operational schedule, and its acceptance criteria are available to read in full. There is no privileged version held back from the people the regime serves.
Version III consolidates the changes opened for public consultation through the autumn of 2025. The principal additions concern the Test and Acceptance gate, where the calibration and fairness evidence an Accredited Assayer must record is now set out explicitly, and the Operation gate, which now requires a defined monitoring interval rather than a one-time check at acceptance.
Engagements on the Register record the version of IDEA they were assayed against, so that the meaning of a Hallmark is fixed at the date it was struck and does not drift as the standard develops. Engagements assayed under earlier versions remain on the Register; integrity requires permanence.
The next consultation window will be announced in a Notice in the ordinary way. Changes are proposed, opened for comment, and reconciled in the open before they are adopted.