Our story
The guild, reinvented
Medieval guilds were one of history's most successful governance innovations. They set entry criteria for practitioners, governed quality standards, protected members' commercial interests, managed dispute resolution, and operated as self-governing networks of trusted parties within broader markets. A guild member in Florence could present their credentials in Bruges and be recognised immediately.
Concert revives these principles with modern infrastructure. Where medieval guilds governed through bylaws and inspections, Concert governs through policy-as-code and cryptographic verification. Where physical guild halls served as trusted meeting points, SIGNET networks provide secure, governed digital environments. Where guild marks authenticated quality, verifiable credentials authenticate capability.
The name Concert carries its own resonance: a concert is an action undertaken in collaboration, by arrangement, together. Concert Foundation orchestrates the collaboration between standards bodies, technology platforms, buying organisations, suppliers, and researchers needed to build procurement infrastructure that serves participants rather than extracting from them.
Why now
Three forces converging
The regulatory window is open
Three jurisdictions are simultaneously demanding the openness, interoperability, and digital capability that SIGNETs provide. The UK Procurement Act 2023 mandates digital-first transparency. The EU ViDA regulation mandates structured e-invoicing across all member states by 2030. The US FAR overhaul moves toward machine-readable compliance. Building on open standards converts compliance burden into architectural advantage.
The platform model is failing
SAP Ariba processes $3.75 trillion annually but locks in both buyers and suppliers. Coupa was taken private by Thoma Bravo for $8 billion. Trade finance networks (We.trade, Marco Polo, Contour, TradeLens) all closed between 2022–2023. The enduring successes — SWIFT, PEPPOL — prove that open standards, clear governance, and anchor-buyer pull are the necessary conditions for network viability.
The harness layer is the opportunity
Models are becoming interchangeable. The real $100 billion infrastructure opportunity is the harness — the execution layer that every model runs through. SIGNET is the procurement harness: model-agnostic, tool-agnostic, organisation-agnostic. Whoever owns this layer controls how intelligence becomes production work.
Three entities, one ecosystem
Steward. Standard. Operator.
Concert (the steward), SIGNET (the standard), and Score (the operator) are deliberately separate. Concert owns the IP and licenses it to commercial operators including Score. This separation prevents standard capture, enables competition among operators, and keeps the consortium neutral.
Concert
The neutral consortium governing the standard, managing specifications, certifying participants, and protecting the ecosystem's integrity. Concert owns the IP and licenses it to commercial operators.
SIGNET
Secure Intelligent Governed Network for Exchange and Trade — the open specification for procurement networks. Model-agnostic. Tool-agnostic. Organisation-agnostic.
Score
The commercial entity building and operating SIGNET-compliant networks — provisioning, integration, agent orchestration, and managed services.