The Authoritative Decision Record within SCIA

Tracks DB defines how decision authority is preserved when intelligence influences action.

It provides a durable, reviewable record of what was authorised, under which conditions, and before execution occurred — without prescribing how intelligence is produced or executed.

Tracks DB exists to ensure that accountability survives system change, automation, and scale.

How Tracks DB Fits in the Decision Path

The diagram below shows the decision track that Tracks DB records.

It illustrates how signals and data are interpreted, constrained, and authorised before any action is taken — and where Tracks DB sits as the authority boundary between decision formation and execution.

The diagram below shows the decision track that Tracks DB preserves, marking the point where interpretation and constraint become authorised action.

Tracks DB records the authorised decision track between constraint application and execution.

Why Tracks DB Exists

As AI systems and advanced analytics increasingly influence decisions, most architectures fail at the same point:

Decisions are made, but rationale is not durable.
Context is reconstructed after the fact.
Constraints are applied, but not preserved.
Accountability is inferred rather than recorded.

Traditional artefacts — logs, prompts, models, workflows — describe activity.

They do not preserve decision authority.

Tracks DB exists to close this gap.

What a “Track” Is

A track is the recorded path an authorised decision follows from signal to action.

As shown in the diagram, a track spans:

Signals & Data — facts and inputs that inform a decision
Meaning Formation — interpretation of those signals in context
Constraint Application — policies, risk limits, and guardrails
Authorised Decision — what is permitted to proceed
Execution — actions taken by systems, humans, or processes

Tracks DB records the authorised portion of this path, preserving decision authority independently of how execution is carried out.

What Tracks DB Records

Tracks DB captures decision lineage, not raw data or model internals.

Each authorised record includes:

Context — relevant conditions and assumptions
Meaning — how information was interpreted
Constraints Applied — policies, limits, or guardrails
Decision — what was authorised or rejected
Lineage — links across time and related decisions

The record preserves authority even if execution systems change or fail.

What Tracks DB Is Not

Tracks DB is not:

a data lake or analytics store
an event log or telemetry stream
a prompt archive or AI “memory”
a model registry or feature store

Those systems explain what happened.

Tracks DB explains why an action was authorised, under which constraints, and when.

Where Tracks DB Sits in SCIA

Tracks DB sits at the authority boundary defined by SCIA.

Above this boundary:

intelligence can evolve
models and methods can change

Below this boundary:

execution must remain accountable
actions must be auditable
responsibility must be explicit

This boundary is defined in the SCIA Reference Architecture → SCIA | Reference Architecture

Why Tracks DB Matters

Without Tracks DB:

governance becomes retrospective
incidents require reconstruction
accountability degrades over time

With Tracks DB:

authority is explicit and reviewable
decisions remain defensible
execution remains bounded
intelligence becomes an institutional asset

Tracks DB transforms decision authority from an assumption into a record.

Design Intent

Tracks DB is defined by architectural intent, not implementation detail:

authority before automation
durability before convenience
reviewability before optimisation
custody before scale

How Tracks DB is implemented may vary.

Its role does not.

The SCIA Position

Tracks DB is not a product and not a database technology.

It is a foundational concept required wherever intelligence carries material, operational, or institutional consequence.

If a decision cannot preserve its authorised track, it cannot safely be executed.