Adoption Pathways

HEART adoption begins with one bounded governance claim and the minimum sufficient evidence needed to verify it. An institution can use the grammar without adopting every Foundation method, profession, credential, or institutional structure.

Lean adoption sequence

  1. Identify the actual law, standard, policy, contract, or institutional source.
  2. Define the subject, deployment, population, purpose, jurisdiction, and claim.
  3. Translate each applicable requirement into a Verifiable Condition, Evidence set, Verification Rule, and Determination.
  4. Reuse existing sufficient evidence and competent external methods.
  5. Add Domain and Deployment Profiles only where context materially changes the requirement or verification.
  6. Use a specialist or Guardian only where irreducible judgment remains.
  7. Enter a formal Scheme only when a certification claim is actually needed and operationally available.

The current adoption states are ORIENTING, MAPPING, IMPLEMENTING, ASSESSMENT-READY, UNDER-ASSESSMENT, VERIFIED, SUSPENDED, and WITHDRAWN. Public language must match the actual state and its evidence.

Different adoption outcomes

NeedProportionate HEART use
Internal governance reviewFive-field verification plan and requirement-level evidence.
ProcurementExact claim, scope, versions, evidence, limitations, change triggers, and remedy path.
Regulatory or standards mappingSource Profile plus traceable mapping that preserves the external authority’s own terms.
Technical assuranceExisting tests or a conditional method such as GTE where it adds material evidence.
Specialist assessmentCompetent technical or professional work inside declared coordinates.
Formal conformityScheme-governed evaluation, review, decision, surveillance, complaint, and appeal.
Credential relianceHVC semantics plus current Registry authority, status, scope, and lineage.

No “Policy Aligned” badge, HVC tier, Guardian checkpoint, Division certification, GTE, MAP-States, Behavioral Oracle, RCTA/BGF, or city-scale structure is an automatic stage.

See Why HEART, Profiles, Assurance, and Methods.