An Assertion is a decision that someone makes and the information they produce from that decision.
The information they produce can be available for other Assertions to be made.
The information they produce has a medium of transmission; physical, verbal, written, electronic.
Other Assertions with access to that medium can use that information to support their decisions.
For understanding and describing business endeavours the concept of Assertion provides an elemental component of that description.
- A shout ‘here’ during a roll call is an Assertion.
- Coins passed to another person is an Assertion.
- A speeding ticket is an Assertion.
- Your bank statement is an Assertion
Using Assertions you can describe any business endeavour, past or planned, at any level.
Assertions –
- Create Information
- Initiate Change
- Support Arguments
- Must be Communicated
- Have a Veracity
- Can be Characterized
- Produce a State Of Affairs
- May be Ephemeral
- Can Describe other Assertions
- Can Express Logic
- Are Determined from New Information
- Deliver Simple or Complex Information
- May Store Information
- Are Implemented in Environments
- Form a Network
— Create Information.
And are the only source of information
Assertions are determined by Authorities, and always create information.
—- Initiate Change
Information produced may initiate actions by other Authorities that change how Assertions are performed
— Support Agreements
Agreements are paired statements between authorities expressing intent. An authority may decide to offer to purchase and express that statement to an Authority that is authorized to commit to a sale. The seller decides to respond (by passing the hot dog to the buyer or issuing a statement of agreement and a statement initiating delivery). Any contract can be expressed as a set of expressed or assumed assertions.
— Must be Communicated
If the information from an Assertion is not used the determination is not necessary.
— Have a Veracity Can be relied upon
The information from an assertion will carry a veracity defined by the receiver. The receiver may make subsequent Assertions based on how reliable they feel the information is.
— Can be Characterized
An Assertion may be determined in a variety of ways. The input information may be assessed or reconfigured, calculated automatically or manually, or observed. It may be largely determined from knowledge information of the Authority. It may produce a very structured set of information defined by accepted terminology, or it might deliver textural information framed only by titled sections.
It may require time to determine. It may be executed regularly or intermittently, often or rarely. Each of these are characteristics of an assertion that help to understand it in its context.
— Produce a State of Affairs – as individuals and collectively
The information produced by an assertion represent a state of affairs
— May be Ephemeral
An Assertion may be determined and asserted only once, perhaps verbally. It may not be captured, or only captured in the memory of those who hear. It will persist only if a receiver determines and asserts in turn.
— Can Describe Assertions
The details about an Assertion, its characterization can be asserted by an Authority to describe a business endeavour. The Assertion definition is business information that can be acted upon, perhaps to inform decisions to change how the business is designed. How it is to be determined. These assertion assertions are the components of a business design.
— Can Express Logic
How the determination is made includes logical assumptions applied by the Authority. These may be guided by specifications and by industry logic patterns.
— Are Determined from New Information
An Assertion is re-determined if the input information is changed. The resulting information may or may not change. Implementations may decide that repeated identical outputs do supply revised information because of then they are determined.
— Deliver Simple or Complex Information
The information may be as simple as a single bit or sentence or a computer packet. It could be an email or a word document.
— May Store Information
If an Assertion is implemented it may constitute a data store. It has received a set of information and passed it on. The output will be inspected when a ‘downstream’ assertion is to be determined, perhaps when one of its information inputs is refreshed. In this context the assertion can act as a ‘implemented database’. Conceptually a complete database is a structured single assertion, with a responsible Authority. The addition of an update results from an assertion and is determined automatically by the DB. Once updated the schema (Frame in Assertion terms) contains the information with its meaning defined as the meaning of the schema, formal or assumed.
— Are Implemented in Environments
Assertions are implemented when there is an environment that is accessible to the Authority, and the means are provided to deliver input information to it, and from it are available in that environment.
— Form a Network
With their Connections they comprise a network that describes the business endeavour in terms of decisions, information and information flows. Collections of Assertions can be isolated as perspectives. And Feedback can be incorporated into the network