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Terms and Conformance Checklist

Annex A — Terms and definitions

Term Definition in this document
Product Holon A bounded, versioned product-instance knowledge graph anchored by a GS1 identifier and linked to wider semantic and product graphs.
Product Holon view An audience- and policy-specific representation derived from a Product Holon.
Semantic control plane Design-time processes and artefacts used to generate, govern, compile and test reusable semantics.
Product data plane Per-product processes that construct, validate, project and publish product-instance data.
Semantic bridge package The released combination of SSSOM mappings, compiled OWL/rules, projection queries, publication policies and tests.
Mapping candidate A possible correspondence awaiting review.
Reviewed mapping A mapping decision approved through the designated governance process.
Route 1 Direct same-meaning, compatible-shape semantic correspondence.
Route 2 Governed structural or conditional transformation.
Route 3 Generic publication through schema:PropertyValue.
Route 4 Exclusion from the applicable publication view.
Source-derived artefact A semantic or validation artefact generated from an authoritative source model.
Publication profile A governed selection and transformation policy for a target audience or interface.
HTML Semantic Proof A human-readable product page that embeds or links machine-readable Product Holon views, source-authority metadata, conformance evidence and a canonical Verifiable Product Statement.
Verifiable Product Statement A W3C Verifiable Credential binding an issuer to product statements or to integrity-protected resources containing them.
Source authority The scoped entitlement of an identified organisation to assert a particular product fact for a product, market, qualifier and effective period.
Evidence-backed reliance decision A verifier’s decision based on issuer identity and authority, provenance, evidence, conformance, cryptographic integrity, status and contextual applicability.

Annex B — Proposed implementation conformance checklist

An implementation claiming Product Holon Architecture alignment should be able to answer yes to the applicable statements:

  • The product representation is anchored by a valid GS1 identifier.
  • The GPC Brick and source release are declared.
  • Product assertions are bounded to the represented item and context.
  • Source and transformation provenance are retained.
  • Ontologies, SHACL shapes, mapping sets and product instances are separate artefacts.
  • Required SHACL validation has completed successfully.
  • Mapping candidates and approved mappings are distinguishable.
  • Approved mappings are stored in a versioned SSSOM set.
  • Direct equivalence has passed meaning, shape and cardinality review.
  • Structural transforms are versioned and tested.
  • Public publication uses an explicit allow-list.
  • Generic fallbacks retain the source property identifier.
  • Manufacturer product facts are separated from marketplace offers and reviews.
  • LLM output is downstream of deterministic retrieval, validation and reasoning.
  • Every published representation identifies its Product Holon, bridge and profile versions.
  • Superseded and withdrawn representations can be detected.
  • The HTML page declares the Semantic Proof profile and stable JSON-LD script identifiers.
  • The canonical native Product Holon and public discovery projection identify the same GTIN and release.
  • Source authority is scoped by issuer role, product, claim, market and effective period.
  • A canonical Verifiable Product Statement is discoverable using application/vc.
  • The credential securing mechanism verifies with the declared verification method.
  • Every relied-upon external resource passes its relatedResource digest check.
  • Credential validity and current status have been checked.
  • The issuer’s authority for the asserted scope has been verified independently of the signature.
  • The verification result does not describe cryptographic validity alone as proof of factual truth.
  • A retained verification report records signature, digest, status, authority, context and SHACL outcomes.

Annex C — Version history

Version Date Change
2.1.0 2026-08-17 Adds the GS1 Product Holon Verifiable Publication Profile and HTML Semantic Proof as the Phase 4 end deliverable. Defines canonical GDSN/GPC and schema.org/GS1 Web Vocabulary representations, source-authority and provenance requirements, a W3C Verifiable Product Statement credential, related-resource integrity binding, credential status, the verification-and-truth boundary, PH-C7 conformance, reference deployment components, acceptance tests and the proposed 8.3.b → 8.4.a → 8.4.b hand-off.
2.0.0 2026-08-02 Major restructure of gs1-gdsn-holon-v1.31.0.md into a core architecture. Introduces the two-plane model; moves K10X, technical code, detailed validation evidence, mapping experiments and research history to a companion technical evidence pack; consolidates superseded conclusions; adopts institutional working-draft tone; separates Product Holon instances, shapes, mapping sets and compiled bridge artefacts.

Annex D — Companion artefact

Detailed evidence, code, worked examples, mapping results, Architecture Decision Records and source references are contained in:

GS1_Product_Holon_Architecture_Technical_Evidence_and_Reference_Implementation_v1.3.0.md