Governance
How ACT-ID is governed today, how governance will evolve, and what requires a governance decision. The model is open standard, open data, centrally-issued identifiers — the same pattern used by ISBN, DOI, ORCID, and LEI.
Why governance matters
ACT-ID is building infrastructure — identifiers that need to mean the same thing across time and
across consumers. The atomic, bindable unit is the use-of-proceeds (identifier
family ACT-U-); eight other prefixes cover supporting layers (see the
methodology for the nine-entity model).
Trust in an identifier registry rests on three things:
- Stability — an
ACT-U-(or any ACT-prefix identifier) issued in 2026 must mean the same thing in 2030. - Transparency — changes must be visible, traceable, and justified.
- Legitimacy — decisions must come from an accountable authority.
The licence structure addresses (1) and (2) by making the architecture CC-BY 4.0, the registry data CC-BY 4.0, and the code Apache 2.0. This page addresses (3).
Governance model
ACT-ID follows the Linux kernel progression — a model that has produced some of the world's most consequential infrastructure. It moves in three stages, each triggered by adoption rather than aspiration.
Single maintainer Current
Maintainer: Ian Howard (ihoward@vectorbravo.com).
Responsibilities:
- Issuing canonical ACT-IDs across all prefixes.
- Declaring scope-change vs binding-change per the versioning rules.
- Approving enum extensions and new inclusion criteria.
- Resolving binding-quality disputes.
- Maintaining the public changelog.
Mechanism:
- Substantive decisions discussed privately with named advisors, then published on the changelog with rationale.
- Disputes raised via email to the maintainer; resolution documented.
- Proposals welcome via email or the website contact form.
Advisory committee When adoption warrants
Trigger: any of the following, demonstrated publicly:
- A regulator, central bank, or intergovernmental body references ACT-IDs in an official document.
- A bond issuance above a material threshold cites ACT-IDs in its framework.
- A major SPO (DNV, S&P ESG, Sustainalytics, ISS ESG, Climate Bonds) cites ACT-IDs in a verification report.
- A multilateral development bank uses ACT-IDs in portfolio reporting.
When the trigger is met, a standing advisory committee of 4–6 named experts is convened, drawn from CBI/UNEP FI practitioners, academic researchers, SPO industry leaders, and regulatory or multilateral participants. The committee reviews substantive decisions quarterly; the maintainer acts in between. Committee minutes and decisions are published.
Foundation / institutional home When multi-institutional adoption warrants
Sustained adoption across multiple institutions, with ACT-IDs appearing in regulatory, academic, and market artifacts internationally, would trigger a move to a foundation structure (or integration with an existing standards body). This transfers trademark, infrastructure, and governance operation to a neutral entity on behalf of the community.
What requires a governance decision
| Decision | Process |
|---|---|
| New canonical identifier of any prefix | Maintainer issues via changelog, with a rationale line |
| Merge of two canonical records into one | Maintainer decision + install redirect + changelog entry |
| Fork of a canonical record into multiple successors | Maintainer decision + lineage metadata + changelog entry |
| Scope-change declaration (new version vs new ID) | Maintainer decision, rationale published |
| Adding a value to an enum | Maintainer decision + changelog entry with methodological justification |
| Adding a new entity type or prefix | Advisor consultation + publicly-documented rationale |
| Change to an inclusion criterion | Advisor consultation + changelog entry |
| Change to the architecture itself | Advisor consultation + new architecture version + changelog entry |
| Binding quality dispute | Maintainer reviews source evidence; outcome and reasoning documented |
Named advisors
Advisor list to be populated as advisors accept formal naming.
During Stage 1, advisors are consulted privately on contentious decisions. Their names will be published on this page once they have agreed to formal advisor status. Initial advisor conversations are in progress with taxonomy practitioners in resilience, biodiversity, and taxonomy-mapping communities.
Changelog
All governance decisions are recorded at act-id.io/changelog with:
- Date of decision
- Identifier(s) or enum(s) affected
- The decision itself (create / merge / fork / update / deprecate / add-enum-value)
- Rationale (one paragraph)
- Who was consulted (if anyone beyond the maintainer)
Disputes
If you disagree with a binding, classification, enum extension, or governance decision:
- Email ihoward@vectorbravo.com
with the subject line starting
DISPUTE: - Describe the disputed item (ACT-ID if applicable), your reasoning, and any supporting evidence (source documents, alternative interpretations, expert opinions).
- The maintainer aims to acknowledge receipt within one week.
- A resolution is published in the changelog, typically within four weeks. Possible outcomes:
- Disputed item amended (merge, rank adjustment, contribution-sign change, etc.)
- Disputed item preserved with the dispute recorded as a
rank='normal'competing binding - Disputed item preserved with a rationale explaining why no change is made
Dispute records are part of the registry's legitimacy. Suppressing dissent is not an option; recording it structurally (via rank) is.
Forking and implementation policy
You may freely
- Read, adapt, translate, and publish the architecture documents (CC-BY 4.0).
- Cite ACT-IDs in your work.
- Use the registry data in products, services, research, and reporting (CC-BY 4.0).
- Build tools that consume the ACT-ID API.
- Implement the same decoupling architecture in your own system for your own domain.
- Describe your system as "inspired by the ACT-ID architecture" or "compatible with the ACT-ID pattern."
You may not
- Issue identifiers from your own registry and call them "ACT-IDs." The name is reserved for identifiers issued from the canonical registry at act-id.io.
- Claim "ACT-ID certified" or "official ACT-ID" status without written agreement.
- Run a parallel registry that fragments the namespace.
This distinction — open architecture, open data, protected name — is the standard pattern for identifier registries and the reason the ACT-ID namespace can remain reliable as adoption grows.
Why this model
Keeping the architecture and data fully open while protecting issuance via trademark reflects a specific choice:
- Too closed (proprietary architecture, restricted data) destroys the conditions for infrastructure adoption. Regulators won't reference it; academics won't cite it; banks won't integrate it.
- Too open (anyone can fork and issue ACT-IDs) destroys the network effects that make an identifier registry valuable. If "ACT-ID" can mean one thing here and another thing there, it means nothing.
Open architecture, open data, centrally-issued identifiers is the narrow path that makes both conditions work. ISBN, DOI, ORCID, LEI, and Wikidata all operate on variations of this model.
Contact
DISPUTE: ...This page will be updated as ACT-ID progresses through governance stages. Material changes will be announced in the changelog.