A signet ring was humanity's original authentication protocol. Pressed into wax, it sealed documents, verified identity, and authorised transactions. Today we announce Concert Foundation — the consortium steward for SIGNET, the digital descendant of that ancient seal.
Three entities, one ecosystem
Concert exists as a deliberately separated structure:
- Concert is the steward — the neutral consortium that owns the intellectual property, governs the standard, and certifies participants.
- SIGNET is the standard — Secure Intelligent Governed Network for Exchange and Trade, the open specification for procurement networks.
- Score is the operator — the commercial entity that builds and runs SIGNET-compliant networks.
This separation is structural, not cosmetic. It ensures the standard cannot be captured by any single commercial interest, and that alternative operators can always emerge.
The GUILD paradigm
SIGNET is the first instantiation of the GUILD paradigm: Governed, Unified, Intelligent, Linked, Decentralised networks of agents — human and synthetic. Medieval guilds set entry criteria, governed quality, and recognised credentials across cities. Concert revives those principles with policy-as-code and cryptographic verification.
We are assembling the founding consortium now. If your organisation manages procurement spend, builds procurement technology, or researches the fields SIGNET draws on, we would like to talk.