--- title: Pillar 4 - The Decision Advantage Standard (DAS) description: An open standard that grades intelligence units on evidence, effect, and calibration. Five bands, three marks, independent audit. Version 1.0 publishes December 15, 2026. canonical_url: https://www.treadstone71.com/pillar-4-das language: en-GB date: 2026-11-12T13:13:30Z notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://www.treadstone71.com/pillar-4-das. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers. markdown-tokens: 3024 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://www.treadstone71.com/pillar-4-das. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. Pillar 4 · Open Standard · Version 1.0 publishes December 15, 2026 # DAS grades the unit Not the brochure. Not the last good call. The practice behind every call. Boards and agencies buy intelligence on reputation. Nobody shows them how a provider grades its sources, whether its probabilities mean anything, or whether its work ever changed a decision. DAS puts a number on that practice. An auditor opens the unit's ledger, draws a sample of judgments, and recomputes the grade. The band either holds or it does not. ## The standard at a glance - **Grades:** an intelligence unit, the team that owns a product line, its ledger, and its consumers. - **Three layers:** evidence, effect, and calibration. - **Five bands:** Ad hoc, Documented, Graded, Measured, Calibrated. - **Three marks:** DAS-Registered, DAS-Certified, DAS-Distinguished. - **Rests on:** the ASA Evidence Standard, Public Edition 1.2, and ASA Measurement of Effect. *//* THE LINE THE STANDARD DRAWS 3 Three gate rules. One failure in the sample blocks the band. Every judgment keeps verified fact apart from adversary claim. Every judgment carries a Sherman Kent probability band. Every source in the ledger carries a grade. A unit that clears all three on the sample, and conforms on at least 90 percent of it, holds Band 3. Below the line, the unit stays in the buyer's pool and knows the gap. DAS certifies practice, not truth. A Band 5 unit still misses calls. Its ledger shows how often. The Problem ## Bought on reputation Audit standards govern the accounts, the controls, and the data center. The intelligence that tells a board who is coming and why gets bought on a logo and a sample report. FAILURE 01 ### Ungraded evidence A finding from a state outlet and a finding from a court filing arrive with the same weight. The reader never sees the difference. // NO GRADE, NO WEIGHT FAILURE 02 ### Probability as decoration "Likely" means 60 percent to one analyst and 90 to the next. Nobody keeps score, so the word stops carrying information. // UNSCORED CONFIDENCE FAILURE 03 ### No trace to a decision Reports ship. Nobody records which decision each one informed or whether the decision changed. // OUTPUT IS NOT EFFECT FAILURE 04 ### The provider grades the provider Capability statements come from the seller. A buyer has no ledger, no sample, and no independent read. // INTERESTED SOURCE The Standard ## Three layers, one ledger DAS composes two published Treadstone 71 standards and adds a third test. The unit keeps one append-only ledger of items, grades, judgments, forecasts, and outcomes. The auditor recomputes everything from it. A result the auditor cannot reproduce does not stand. 🎚️ ### Layer 1 · Evidence Does every judgment rest on graded evidence? The layer applies the ASA Evidence Standard. Source reliability and information credibility sit on separate axes and never average. The three gate rules apply to the sample. 📈 ### Layer 2 · Effect Did the work change a decision, a belief, or a behavior? Units that run campaigns take Path A and measure under ASA-MOE. Units that write assessments take Path B, a decision-trace record that ties each product to the decision it informed. 🎯 ### Layer 3 · Calibration Did the unit's confidence track reality over time, including when an adversary planted a false signal? A forecast ledger and a deception exercise answer the question. Version 1.0 carries the layer as Provisional until a pilot reports. Layer 1 Foundation · PDF ### ASA Evidence Standard, Public Edition 1.2 The evidence standard under every score in The Adversary Index and every grade in DAS. [Open the ASA Standard](https://www.treadstone71.com/asa-evidence-standard) Layer 2 Path A · Draft for comment ### ASA Measurement of Effect The protocol for proving a counter-influence campaign changed what people believed or did. Comments through December 2, 2026 · Final January 2027 [Open ASA-MOE](https://www.treadstone71.com/asa-measurement-of-effect) Pillar 4 · Version 1.0 ### DAS, Version 1.0 The full standard with the scoping form, ledger fields, sampling rules, and reference worksheet. Publishes December 15, 2026 [Notify Me on Release](https://www.treadstone71.com/t71-contact-form?subject=DAS%20Version%201.0%20Notice) `DAS-Registered` #### Scoping form filed The unit names its product lines, consumers, ledger system, and claimed band. The form publishes with the mark. No fee. `DAS-Certified` #### Band 3 or Band 4, audited An independent auditor samples the ledger, runs the gates, and signs an Audit Statement with the ledger hash. `DAS-Distinguished` #### Band 5, audited Issued once the calibration pilot reports. Until then, a unit that meets Layers 1 and 2 and runs the exercise claims Band 5 (Provisional). The Five Bands ## Each band holds the one below A unit cannot hold a higher band without every lower one. DAS bands grade a unit; the ASA T-Score bands grade a single item. The two scales stay apart. | Band | Name | Evidence layer | Effect layer | Calibration layer | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Ad hoc | No standing ledger; grades vary by analyst | Not recorded | Not recorded | | 2 | Documented | Ledger exists; rules written, not applied to every judgment | Not recorded | Not recorded | | 3 | Graded | Gates G1 to G3 pass; 90 percent of the sample conforms | Not required | Not required | | 4 | Measured | Band 3 holds | Path A or Path B met | Not required | | 5 | Calibrated (Provisional) | Band 4 holds | Band 4 holds | Forecast ledger kept; deception exercise run; results reported | 1. ### File the scoping form Name the unit, its product lines, its consumers, its ledger, and the band claimed. DAS-Registered follows. 2. ### Keep the ledger Append-only. An edit becomes an amendment that cites the original. Twelve months of entries make an audit period. 3. ### Open the sample The auditor snapshots the ledger, records its SHA-256 hash, and draws the judgment sample. 4. ### Run the gates and the layers Gates first, then the conformance rate, then the effect path, then calibration where claimed. 5. ### Publish the Audit Statement Band, mark, ledger hash, and every difference between the unit's figures and the auditor's. Independent Audit ## Open standard. Any qualified auditor. DAS does not require Treadstone 71. Any qualified independent party is free to audit to it. Treadstone 71 writes the standard and also offers audits, and the standard publishes the controls on that conflict: the ledger hash, full recomputation, and an internal review log on every audit. DAS-Registered $0no fee Any unit A public commitment to the standard and a claimed band. - Scoping form filed and published - Ledger fields defined against the standard - Claimed band stated, not yet audited [Register a Unit](https://www.treadstone71.com/t71-contact-form?subject=DAS%20Registration) DAS-Certified $50,000from Band 3 or Band 4 The full evidence audit, with the effect layer for Band 4. - Ledger snapshot and hash - Judgment sample and gate rules G1 to G3 - Conformance rate recomputed - Effect Path A or Path B for Band 4 - Signed Audit Statement [Request a Certified Audit](https://www.treadstone71.com/t71-contact-form?subject=DAS%20Certified%20Audit) DAS-Distinguished $125,000from Band 5 Everything in Certified, plus the calibration layer. - Forecast ledger scored - Deception exercise with salted items - Mark issues after the calibration pilot reports [Discuss Band 5](https://www.treadstone71.com/t71-contact-form?subject=DAS%20Distinguished%20Audit) Common Questions ## Before you write it into a contract ### What does DAS grade? An intelligence unit: a team of analysts that produces assessments for a named consumer, inside a government office, a company, a bank, a vendor, or a nonprofit. DAS does not certify an individual analyst, a single product, or a data feed. ### How does a buyer use it? Write the band into the contract. The provider then shows a ledger, a sample of judgments, and an Audit Statement in place of a capability brochure. ### Does a Band 5 unit get every call right? No. DAS certifies practice, not truth. The ledger shows how often a unit misses and whether its stated confidence matched its record. ### Why is the calibration layer Provisional? The design has not yet run at scale. Version 1.0 keeps the layer out of the certification gate, and no DAS-Distinguished mark issues until the pilot reports in a later revision. ### How does DAS relate to the ASA Evidence Standard? The evidence layer applies ASA Public Edition 1.2 (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.23137881) without change. ASA grades one item. DAS grades the unit that handles thousands of them. ### Does an audit require Treadstone 71? No. Any qualified independent party is free to audit to the standard and issue an Audit Statement. ### When does it publish? Draft 0.7 issued internally on November 17, 2026. Version 1.0 publishes December 15, 2026. Pillar 4 of The T71 Standard ## Ask your provider for the ledger. Then ask what band it earns. Version 1.0 publishes December 15, 2026. Direct line: [424.234.3629](tel:+14242343629) ```json { "@context": "http:\/\/schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "author": { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https:\/\/www.treadstone71.com\/#person-jeffbardin", "name": "Jeff Bardin", "url": "https:\/\/www.treadstone71.com\/jeff-bardin" }, "dateModified": "2026-11-12T13:13:30Z", "datePublished": "2026-11-12T13:13:30Z", "description": "An open standard that grades intelligence units on evidence, effect, and calibration. Five bands, three marks, independent audit. 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