FAQ

FAQ

What is SIGNET, in one sentence?

An open, public-domain standard for governed procurement networks in which human and synthetic agents operate under shared governance, decentralised identity, and cryptographic trust — defined by a four-layer Canonical Data Model.

Is SIGNET a replacement for OCDS / EN 16931 / Peppol?

No. SIGNET is a profile-and-bridge, not a fork. It maps without loss to and from those standards and adds what they lack (chiefly the Agent Layer). A SIGNET document can be projected down to a conforming OCDS release or Peppol BIS invoice, and data in those formats can be lifted into the CDM. See Standards Mapping.

What makes SIGNET different from a normal procurement platform?

The Agent Layer: synthetic agents are first-class, governed, accountable participants. Every material decision records who decided, under what mandate, from what inputs, under what policy, with what rationale, with what human approval, and with cryptographic provenance. No existing procurement standard models this.

Do I have to use JSON-LD, DIDs, and verifiable credentials?

No. JSON-LD is the canonical serialisation, but the @context is ignorable — you can treat CDM documents as ordinary JSON (see Serialisation). DIDs are recommended but URN/URI identifiers are acceptable for process objects. Credentials are optional.

What licence is it under? Can I use it commercially?

The artifacts are dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0 — use them anywhere, by anyone, with no attribution burden. The marks ("SIGNET", "Concert", "SIGNET Certified") are administered separately by Concert Foundation; CC0 grants no rights in them.

Is the schema or the prose authoritative?

The JSON Schema is the source of truth. Then the prose specification, then this wiki. See Validation & Conformance → Precedence.

Which JSON Schema version is used?

Draft-07, for maximum implementer-tooling compatibility. A migration to 2020-12 will be considered before v1.0. See Validation & Conformance.

How do I validate my data?

npm install && npm run validate. CI runs the same checks on every push and PR, so examples cannot drift from the schema. See Validation & Conformance.

Is the EN 16931 / Peppol conversion real or just claimed?

Real and continuously proven in CI. tools/signet-to-ubl.js projects the canonical Invoice to UBL 2.1 / Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, and tools/verify-ubl.py reconciles every Business Term and the totals — both run on every push. It is a faithful reference projection, not a substitute for official Peppol XSD + Schematron validation. See EN 16931 & ViDA E-Invoicing.

Does SIGNET help with regulatory compliance?

Yes, by design. The Decision record supports the assessment-summary and decision-record obligations of the UK Procurement Act 2023 and the documentation expectations for AI-assisted evaluation under the EU AI Act; the Invoice supports EU ViDA e-invoicing.

How is the model versioned?

Semantic Versioning. Major = breaking core change; minor = backward-compatible additions; patch = clarifications. Every version is permanently retrievable at a version-stable URI. The repository is at v0.3.0; the specification is a v0.1 working draft.

How do I extend SIGNET for my domain?

Publish a versioned extension package under its own namespace that adds (never changes) structure. It may be promoted into core if broadly useful. See Extensions.

How do I contribute, and what is the CLA?

Open an issue, then a PR (CI must pass). Contributions are accepted under the Concert CLA: you keep ownership and grant Concert royalty-free copyright and patent licences so the standard stays open. No contributor or operator (including Score Networks) gets a preferential position. See Contributing.

Where do I send comments on the draft?

hello@concert.foundation, or via the issue templates.

What is "Score Networks"?

A commercial operator referenced in the governance materials. SIGNET's governance explicitly guarantees that no operator, including Score Networks, gains a preferential position over other implementers. See Governance & Versioning.