AIGO — Evidence Schema Documentation
1. Document Purpose
This document describes the machine-readable AIGO Evidence Schema. The schema provides the structured representation of evidence used to support AI governance activities within the AIGO AI Governance Operating Framework. It is intended to support:- evidence identification;
- evidence description;
- evidence classification;
- evidence sourcing;
- evidence generation;
- evidence collection;
- evidence integrity;
- evidence authenticity;
- evidence completeness;
- evidence relevance;
- evidence accuracy;
- evidence timeliness;
- evidence traceability;
- evidence quality;
- evidence validation;
- evidence review;
- evidence gaps;
- evidence exceptions;
- evidence use;
- access control;
- sensitive-information handling;
- retention;
- repository management;
- chain of custody;
- disposition; and
- historical traceability.
2. Schema Information
3. Scope
The Evidence Schema applies to evidence supporting AIGO governance activities. Evidence may support:- AI system registration;
- AI system classification;
- risk assessment;
- risk treatment;
- risk acceptance;
- control implementation;
- control assessment;
- approval;
- monitoring;
- incident management;
- change management;
- assurance;
- management review;
- continual improvement;
- retirement;
- regulatory compliance; and
- contractual or organizational obligations.
4. Object Model
The primary object represented by this schema is:- the governance record it supports;
- the risk record;
- the control record;
- the assessment record;
- the approval record;
- the monitoring record;
- the incident record;
- the change record;
- the assurance record;
- the management review record; and
- the improvement or retirement record.
5. Core Identity
An Evidence record should contain stable identity information. Key fields include:id;objectType;objectVersion;schemaVersion;- evidence title;
- evidence purpose;
- evidence source;
- evidence status; and
- evidence scope where applicable.
6. Evidence Purpose
Evidence should have a clearly stated purpose. A purpose may be to demonstrate:- control implementation;
- control operation;
- completion of an assessment;
- approval;
- monitoring;
- incident response;
- change implementation;
- assurance activity;
- management review;
- regulatory compliance;
- risk treatment; or
- another defined governance condition.
7. Evidence Title and Description
The evidence title should be concise and descriptive. The evidence description should provide sufficient context to explain:- what the evidence represents;
- what activity generated it;
- when it was generated;
- what system or process it relates to;
- why it is relevant; and
- any important limitations.
8. Evidence Types
Evidence may take many forms. Typical categories include:9. Evidence Source
The source identifies where the evidence originated. Possible sources include:- AI system;
- application;
- database;
- model;
- data pipeline;
- monitoring system;
- governance repository;
- risk register;
- control repository;
- procedure repository;
- approval system;
- assessment system;
- assurance activity;
- incident system;
- change-management system;
- supplier;
- external source;
- interview;
- test environment; or
- another approved source.
10. Source Traceability
Where possible, the evidence should identify:- source system;
- source record identifier;
- source owner;
- source location;
- source URI;
- source version; and
- relevant source date.
11. Evidence Generation
Evidence may be generated:- automatically;
- manually;
- by a person;
- by an AI system;
- by an application;
- through a test;
- through an operational process; or
- through an external organization.
- generation logic;
- version;
- configuration;
- automation controls;
- timestamps; and
- human review.
12. Evidence Collection
The collection method should be recorded where it affects integrity or reliability. Collection methods may include:- direct capture;
- system export;
- repository retrieval;
- manual upload;
- API extraction;
- screenshot;
- report generation;
- log export;
- interview record; or
- observation.
- collector;
- date and time;
- collection tool;
- collection conditions; and
- evidence location.
13. Evidence Period
Evidence may relate to a specific period. The record should identify:- start date;
- end date;
- effective date;
- validity period; or
- historical context.
- monitoring evidence;
- control evidence;
- compliance evidence;
- incident evidence;
- assurance evidence; and
- management review inputs.
14. Evidence Scope
Evidence scope should identify what the evidence covers. Scope may include:- AI systems;
- business units;
- jurisdictions;
- environments;
- components;
- lifecycle stages;
- activities;
- users; or
- time periods.
15. Evidence Relevance
Evidence should be relevant to the claim or decision it supports. Relevance may be rated as:- direct;
- strong;
- moderate;
- limited; or
- not relevant.
- relationship to the requirement;
- relationship to the assessment;
- scope;
- timing;
- source; and
- content.
16. Evidence Authenticity
Authenticity concerns whether the evidence can reasonably be established as genuine and attributable to its claimed source. Authenticity may be established through:- source verification;
- digital signatures;
- trusted system generation;
- controlled repositories;
- audit trails;
- access controls;
- corroboration;
- chain of custody; or
- other approved methods.
17. Evidence Integrity
Integrity concerns whether evidence has remained complete and unaltered from the point at which it was captured or declared authoritative. Integrity mechanisms may include:- hashes;
- checksums;
- digital signatures;
- immutable storage;
- version control;
- audit trails;
- repository controls;
- write-protected storage; or
- other mechanisms.
18. Integrity Verification
The record may capture:- integrity mechanism;
- algorithm;
- hash or checksum value;
- verification date;
- verification method;
- verifier;
- verification result; and
- rationale.
19. Evidence Completeness
Completeness concerns whether all relevant information expected from the evidence item is present. Completeness may be assessed as:- complete;
- substantially complete;
- partially complete;
- incomplete; or
- not assessed.
20. Evidence Accuracy
Accuracy concerns whether the evidence correctly represents the underlying fact or event. Accuracy may be assessed through:- source verification;
- cross-checking;
- reperformance;
- independent data comparison;
- technical validation;
- corroborating evidence; or
- other appropriate methods.
21. Evidence Timeliness
Timeliness concerns whether the evidence is sufficiently current for the purpose for which it is being used. Evidence may be:- current;
- acceptable;
- outdated;
- historically relevant; or
- unknown.
- governance requirement;
- decision date;
- system state;
- risk;
- control state;
- legal requirement; and
- intended use.
22. Evidence Traceability
Evidence should maintain traceability to its:- source;
- activity;
- decision;
- requirement;
- related records;
- system;
- owner; and
- use.
23. Evidence Quality
The schema supports an overall evidence-quality assessment. Quality may consider:- authenticity;
- integrity;
- completeness;
- relevance;
- accuracy;
- timeliness; and
- traceability.
24. Evidence Validation
Evidence validation may be required when:- the evidence is critical to a high-risk decision;
- source reliability is uncertain;
- the evidence is generated automatically;
- evidence is externally supplied;
- integrity is important;
- legal or regulatory use is anticipated;
- the evidence is contested; or
- assurance requires independent confirmation.
- source verification;
- reperformance;
- cross-check;
- independent review;
- technical validation;
- data validation; or
- another approved method.
25. Evidence Review
Evidence may require formal review before use. The reviewer may determine whether the evidence is:- accepted;
- accepted with conditions;
- returned for clarification;
- rejected; or
- pending.
- reviewer;
- review date;
- result;
- comments;
- conditions; and
- supporting records.
26. Evidence Gaps
An evidence gap occurs when required evidence is:- missing;
- incomplete;
- inaccessible;
- unreliable;
- outdated; or
- otherwise insufficient.
- gap identifier;
- missing evidence;
- reason;
- risk impact;
- owner;
- target date;
- remediation;
- status; and
- risk acceptance where appropriate.
27. Evidence Exceptions
An evidence exception may be used where a required evidence item cannot be produced or does not fully meet requirements. The exception should identify:- exception;
- reason;
- risk;
- compensating controls;
- owner;
- authority;
- duration;
- review; and
- status.
28. Evidence Use
The record should identify intended uses where useful. Potential uses include:- governance;
- risk assessment;
- risk treatment;
- risk acceptance;
- classification;
- control assessment;
- approval;
- monitoring;
- incident investigation;
- change management;
- assurance;
- management review;
- continual improvement;
- retirement;
- regulatory purposes; and
- contractual purposes.
29. Evidence Access
Evidence should be protected according to its sensitivity. Access considerations may include:- information classification;
- authorized roles;
- authorized users;
- disclosure restrictions;
- external disclosure;
- access controls;
- audit logging; and
- segregation of duties.
30. Sensitive Information
Evidence may contain:- personal data;
- sensitive personal data;
- confidential business information;
- security information;
- credentials;
- proprietary information;
- regulated information; or
- other sensitive information.
31. Evidence Minimization
Only evidence necessary for the governance purpose should normally be collected and retained. Evidence minimization reduces:- privacy exposure;
- security exposure;
- storage burden;
- unnecessary duplication; and
- operational risk.
32. Evidence Retention
Evidence retention should be defined according to:- legal requirements;
- regulatory requirements;
- contractual requirements;
- organizational policy;
- audit requirements;
- governance significance;
- historical traceability; and
- risk.
- retention period;
- start date;
- owner;
- repository;
- legal hold; and
- legal-hold reference.
33. Legal Hold
Where evidence is subject to legal or regulatory preservation requirements, the organization should record the applicable legal hold. Evidence under legal hold should not be disposed of until authorized. The record may identify:- hold status;
- hold reference;
- responsible authority;
- date established; and
- release date.
34. Evidence Repository
The repository should provide appropriate:- access control;
- version control;
- backup;
- integrity protection;
- audit logging;
- availability;
- retention management; and
- controlled disposition.
35. Chain of Custody
Chain of custody should be used where evidence integrity depends on controlled handling. This is especially relevant for:- significant incidents;
- regulatory matters;
- legal proceedings;
- security investigations;
- contested evidence;
- high-consequence assurance; and
- forensic activities.
- timestamp;
- custodian;
- action;
- location;
- integrity check; and
- notes where necessary.
36. Evidence Reliability
Evidence reliability should consider:- source reliability;
- generation process;
- human involvement;
- system integrity;
- validation;
- historical consistency; and
- other contextual factors.
- high;
- moderate;
- low; or
- unknown.
37. System-Generated Evidence
System-generated evidence may include:- logs;
- monitoring data;
- configuration records;
- audit trails;
- workflow records;
- transaction records;
- automated reports; and
- machine-generated assessments.
- system integrity;
- configuration;
- access controls;
- timestamps;
- generation logic; and
- change history.
38. AI-Generated Evidence
AI systems may themselves generate information used as evidence. Where AI-generated information is treated as evidence, additional considerations may be necessary concerning:- source model;
- model version;
- prompt or input;
- generation date;
- system configuration;
- human review;
- corroboration;
- hallucination risk;
- provenance; and
- validation.
39. Human-Generated Evidence
Human-generated evidence may include:- interviews;
- meeting minutes;
- attestations;
- observations;
- expert judgments;
- approvals;
- manual test results; and
- review records.
40. External Evidence
External evidence may originate from:- suppliers;
- regulators;
- auditors;
- independent assessors;
- standards organizations;
- customers;
- external testing providers; or
- other third parties.
- provenance;
- authenticity;
- relevance;
- timeliness;
- scope;
- completeness; and
- contractual or legal restrictions.
41. Evidence Relationships
An evidence item may support multiple records. For example:42. Evidence and Risk Management
Evidence may support:- risk identification;
- risk analysis;
- risk treatment;
- risk acceptance;
- risk monitoring; and
- risk reassessment.
43. Evidence and Controls
Control evidence should demonstrate, where applicable:- control existence;
- implementation;
- operating performance;
- review;
- exceptions;
- remediation;
- monitoring; and
- effectiveness.
44. Evidence and Assessments
Assessment evidence should support:- criteria;
- testing;
- findings;
- conclusions;
- limitations; and
- decisions.
45. Evidence and Approvals
Approval evidence may include:- assessment results;
- approval documents;
- meeting records;
- decision logs;
- signatures;
- conditions;
- completion evidence; and
- authority records.
46. Evidence and Monitoring
Monitoring evidence may include:- measurements;
- alerts;
- dashboards;
- trend reports;
- configuration;
- logs;
- review records; and
- monitoring decisions.
47. Evidence and Incidents
Incident evidence may include:- logs;
- affected outputs;
- configuration;
- communications;
- system state;
- investigation results;
- root-cause evidence;
- remediation evidence; and
- recovery validation.
48. Evidence and Change Management
Change evidence may include:- request;
- impact assessment;
- test results;
- approval;
- implementation records;
- configuration;
- deployment;
- rollback;
- validation;
- enhanced monitoring; and
- closure.
49. Evidence and Assurance
Assurance relies heavily on evidence. Evidence should allow an assurance reviewer to:- reproduce material conclusions where feasible;
- understand the source of facts;
- evaluate evidence quality;
- identify limitations; and
- trace findings to supporting information.
50. Evidence and Management Review
Management review may rely on evidence such as:- risk metrics;
- control assessments;
- incidents;
- monitoring;
- assurance;
- regulatory changes;
- stakeholder feedback;
- improvement activity; and
- governance performance.
51. Evidence and Improvement
Improvement records may rely on evidence demonstrating:- the problem;
- root cause;
- proposed solution;
- implementation;
- effectiveness;
- unintended consequences; and
- sustainability.
52. Evidence and Retirement
Retirement evidence may demonstrate:- approval;
- technical shutdown;
- access removal;
- data disposition;
- dependency closure;
- supplier termination;
- monitoring closure;
- risk closure;
- final validation; and
- inventory update.
53. Evidence Disposition
Evidence may eventually be:- retained;
- archived;
- transferred;
- anonymized;
- securely deleted;
- securely destroyed; or
- otherwise disposed of.
54. Superseded Evidence
Evidence may be superseded by a newer version. The record should preserve:- supersession status;
- replacement evidence;
- reason;
- historical retention; and
- relationship between versions.
55. Evidence Versioning
The evidence record should distinguish:- evidence identifier;
- evidence version;
- schema version;
- source version;
- generation date; and
- collection date.
56. Evidence Review Frequency
Evidence should be reviewed periodically where its continuing validity matters. Review frequency may depend on:- evidence type;
- risk;
- governance requirement;
- regulatory obligation;
- system change;
- control change;
- retention requirement; and
- intended use.
57. Evidence Reporting
Evidence repositories may report on:- evidence completeness;
- evidence quality;
- evidence gaps;
- evidence exceptions;
- overdue evidence;
- expired evidence;
- evidence linked to critical controls;
- evidence linked to high risks;
- evidence retention status;
- evidence integrity;
- evidence access; and
- evidence disposition.
58. Evidence Quality Metrics
Organizations may establish metrics such as:
Metrics should have defined owners and calculation rules.
59. Evidence Validation Requirements
A valid Evidence record should satisfy:Structural Validation
The JSON document must validate against:10-AIGO-Evidence-Schema-v0.1.json
Identity Validation
The evidence identifier must be unique and stable.Source Validation
The source should be identifiable where required.Purpose Validation
The governance purpose should be defined.Relevance Validation
Evidence should be relevant to the claim it supports.Integrity Validation
Integrity should be assessed where material.Authenticity Validation
Authenticity should be established where required.Completeness Validation
Material missing elements should be identified.Timeliness Validation
Evidence should be current or appropriately identified as historical.Traceability Validation
Evidence should connect to the records or requirements it supports.Access Validation
Sensitive evidence should have appropriate access restrictions.Retention Validation
Retention requirements should be defined where applicable.Disposition Validation
Disposal should be controlled and documented.60. Schema Limitations
JSON Schema cannot independently determine:- whether evidence is genuine;
- whether evidence is accurate;
- whether evidence is sufficient;
- whether evidence is relevant to a particular governance claim;
- whether a source is trustworthy;
- whether retention periods are legally correct;
- whether access restrictions are appropriate; or
- whether evidence proves a governance conclusion.
61. Relationship to Templates
The Evidence Schema corresponds primarily to:guidance/03-templates/16-AIGO-AI-Evidence-Record-Template-v0.1.md
It also supports evidence generated by:
- AI system registration;
- classification;
- risk assessment;
- control assessment;
- approval;
- monitoring;
- incident;
- change management;
- assurance;
- management review;
- improvement; and
- retirement activities.
62. Relationship to Procedures
The Evidence Schema should be used with applicable AIGO procedures governing:- governance records;
- risk assessment;
- controls;
- approval;
- monitoring;
- incident management;
- change management;
- assurance;
- continuous improvement;
- retirement; and
- records management.
- evidence collection;
- validation;
- classification;
- access;
- retention;
- review;
- disposition; and
- exception handling.
63. Framework Traceability
64. Evidence Traceability Model
The recommended evidence chain is:65. Example Record
A conceptual Evidence record may look like:66. Schema Registry Relationship
This schema is registered in:schemas/00-AIGO-Schema-Registry-v0.1.json
The registry should maintain:
- schema identifier;
- object type;
- version;
- controlled path;
- status;
- dependencies;
- referenced schemas;
- owner;
- documentation path; and
- traceability metadata.
67. Change and Version Management
Changes to the Evidence Schema should be managed through AIGO change management. Potential impacts should be assessed against:- evidence repositories;
- records management;
- assessment;
- risk;
- control;
- approval;
- monitoring;
- incident;
- change management;
- assurance;
- management review;
- improvement;
- retirement;
- retention requirements;
- privacy; and
- validation tooling.
68. Future Extensions
Future versions may support:- digital signatures;
- standardized evidence packages;
- cryptographic provenance;
- automated evidence collection;
- evidence lineage graphs;
- machine-readable retention policies;
- advanced chain-of-custody structures;
- evidence confidence scoring;
- data-provenance metadata;
- immutable evidence registries;
- automated evidence-gap detection; and
- cross-framework evidence reuse.
69. Document Control
70. Document Status
Document: AIGO — Evidence Schema Documentation Version: 0.1 Status: Draft Working Name: AIGO Full Name: AI Governance Operating Framework Document Identifier:AIGO-SCHEMA-DOC-010
Document Type: Schema Documentation
This document provides the human-readable interpretation, governance context, validation expectations, and traceability guidance for the AIGO Evidence Schema.
End of Document