Assurability: Assurance Levels

v2026-05-15

Index

  1. Definitions and overview
  2. Signalling assurance
  3. Organisational Assurability
  4. Dataset Assurability
  5. Example: Assured Open Data Scheme (energy focus)

Definitions & overview

IB1 Assurability (noun): The degree to which an organisation, dataset, or data flow can be verified as trustworthy, covering its origin, quality, legal basis, and fitness for a given purpose, within the rules of a Scheme and Trust Framework.

Assurability is a property, not a binary state. It is expressed through graduated Assurance Levels applied to both organisations (who is sharing?) and datasets (what is being shared?), ranging from basic legal registration and membership (Level 1) through to fully machine-readable provenance, quality parameters, and 99.9% availability (Level 4).

Assurability differs from assurance in that it describes what can be verified in principle, whereas assurance describes what has been verified in practice. An organisation or dataset that meets the structural conditions for a given level: the governance, documentation, technical standards, and audit trails is assurable at that level. Actual assurance is then conferred through self-declaration, machine testing, or third-party audit, as specified by the relevant Scheme.

Within IB1’s Trust Frameworks, assurability serves three purposes:

  1. Trust — giving data recipients confidence that data originates from a verified source, is accurately described, and is lawfully shareable
  2. Scale — enabling automated, machine-readable verification so that trust can operate across thousands of organisations and datasets without bilateral negotiation
  3. Accountability — creating a clear, auditable basis for redress if data does not meet the stated level

Assurability applies across all data sensitivity classes — open, shared, and closed — and is a foundational requirement for data to be considered assurable smart data: the form of data that can reliably underpin investment decisions, compliance reporting, and net zero innovation.

What assurability enables

Assurability helps improve the quality and transparency of information for decision-makers.

Trust Frameworks (TF’s) codify and make public the technical and non-technical (‘sociotechnical’) rules for data sharing agreed by their member organisations (such rulebooks are called Schemes). One function of a Trust Framework is to provide appropriate levels of verification and assurance of member organisations and the datasets they publish, covering both Open and Shared data publication.

Organisations are responsible for verifying that they and their data meet the assurance level requirements, including ensuring accurate and complete data. This may subsequently be ratified by machine testing and/or third-party audit.

The assurance approach and needs may vary. For example, Open Energy may draw on specific regulatory requirements such as UK Ofgem’s Open Data Best Practice, whereas Perseus may draw on the specific needs to enable data assurance for compliance reporting.

IB1 assurability processes enable members to publish Assured Open Data and signal organisational and dataset trustworthiness within a sector trust ecosystem (and can consume things like ODI Certificates as evidence);

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Signalling assurance

Organisational assurance badges

Badge Label Links to
Organizational Assurance Level 1 Organizational Assurance Level 1 https://specification.trust.ib1.org/generic-organizational-assurance-levels/1.0/#organizational-assurance-level-1
Organizational Assurance Level 2 Organizational Assurance Level 2 https://specification.trust.ib1.org/generic-organizational-assurance-levels/1.0/#organizational-assurance-level-2
Organizational Assurance Level 3 Organizational Assurance Level 3 https://specification.trust.ib1.org/generic-organizational-assurance-levels/1.0/#organizational-assurance-level-3
Organizational Assurance Level 4 Organizational Assurance Level 4 https://specification.trust.ib1.org/generic-organizational-assurance-levels/1.0/#organizational-assurance-level-4

Dataset assurance badges

Badge Label Links to
Organizational Assurance Level 1 Dataset Assurance Level 1 https://specification.trust.ib1.org/generic-dataset-assurance-levels/1.0/#dataset-assurance-level-1
Organizational Assurance Level 2 Dataset Assurance Level 2 https://specification.trust.ib1.org/generic-dataset-assurance-levels/1.0/#dataset-assurance-level-2
Organizational Assurance Level 3 Dataset Assurance Level 3 https://specification.trust.ib1.org/generic-dataset-assurance-levels/1.0/#dataset-assurance-level-3
Organizational Assurance Level 4 Dataset Assurance Level 4 https://specification.trust.ib1.org/generic-dataset-assurance-levels/1.0/#dataset-assurance-level-4

Organisational Assurability

Level 1

This is the minimum requirement for organisations to join the Trust Framework. At this level, organisations have:

Level 2

The organisation meets all the requirements of Level 1, plus they have:

Level 3

The organisation meets all the requirements of Level 2, plus they have:

Level 4

The organisation meets all the requirements of Level 3, plus they have:

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Dataset Assurability

Each dataset published by a member of a Trust Framework is assessed against the following assurance levels:

Level 1

Assurance that:

Level 2

The dataset meets all the requirements of Level 1, plus assurance that:

Level 3

The dataset meets all the requirements of Level 2, plus assurance that:

Level 4

The dataset meets all the requirements of Level 3, plus assurance that:

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