1. Purpose
The Release Calendar is the public schedule of the CIAO Standard. It states the next scheduled minor release date, the major release horizon, and the cumulative change pipeline organised by category. The Calendar is updated at every release event and at any change to the schedule.
The Calendar is the authoritative source members consult to plan their re-mapping, re-certification, and implementation work against the Standard. Lead-time commitments to members for material and structural changes are honoured through this Calendar in conjunction with direct member notifications, as set out in the Change Management & Versioning Process.
2. Major Release Horizon
Major releases occur every three years. Each major release may carry Structural changes — additions to or retirements of CAO domains, restructuring of the tier model, changes to the numbering grammar, changes to the Aggregate Framework triad, changes to the Constitution. Structural changes are reserved for major releases and are subject to a public consultation window of at least sixty days before binding, as set out in the Change Management Process Section 3.
No changes are currently approved and allocated to this window.
3. Annual Major Release
The Annual Major Release consolidates Functional and Material changes that have cleared review and received Secretariat editorial approval, on a yearly cadence. Structural changes are reserved for the 3-Yearly Major Release above.
No changes are currently approved and allocated to this window.
4. Next Minor Release
The Standard is in its founding period. The first minor release within the v1.x window will accumulate the changes that the founding-period pipeline produces — material derived from practitioner submissions through the Editorial Submission Framework, Secretariat-initiated proposals, source-standard re-issue triggers, and Panel-initiated proposals. The release date is confirmed once the pipeline contents and review readiness justify a release event, with at least thirty days’ direct notification to affected members per the Change Management Process Section 4.
No changes are currently approved and allocated to this window.
5. Imminent Standard Release
The Monthly Standard Release is the Standard’s routine implementation window. It batches editorial and standard-classified changes that have cleared the full review pipeline and received Secretariat editorial approval, publishing them monthly to keep the Standard operationally current without disturbing the minor and major release rhythm. Emergency-classified changes bypass this window and are actioned as soon as approved.
No changes are currently approved and allocated to this window.
6. Change Pipeline by Category
The Standard’s change pipeline is organised into five categories, each with its own review pathway and release window. The current state of the pipeline is summarised in the table below; the table is updated at every triage event and at every release event.
| Category | Pipeline Items | Release Pathway | Member Notification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Editorial | Continuous patches as needed | Batched into the Monthly Standard Release | Recorded in version history; no direct notification |
| Errata | Corrections and clarifications to published content | Batched into the Quarterly Minor Release | Listed in the Quarterly Errata & Submission Summary |
| Functional | Accumulating in founding period | Next Annual Major Release (Emergency track if urgent) | Through Release Calendar feed |
| Material | Pipeline opens with first practitioner submissions | Next Annual Major Release (Emergency track if urgent) | Direct notification to affected members; 30-day minimum lead time at minor release |
| Structural | Reserved for major releases | 3-Yearly Major Release only | 60-day minimum public consultation; direct member notification through that window |
7. Implementation Acceptance
When a release ships, member organisations record their acceptance below — the implementation date that the change-management process references for notification and adoption tracking.
Sign in to record your organisation’s acceptance of released versions.
8. Release Event Log
The release event log records every release event of the CIAO Standard with version, date, category summary, and link to the change-set detail. The log is append-only and acts as the authoritative public record of how the Standard has changed since v1.0.
| Version | Date | Type | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0 | 1 January 2026 | Major | Inaugural edition of the CIAO Standard. Founding-period publication with full Class A, B, C, and D document scaffolding. |
Automated release notices
9. Founding-Period Provisions
The CIAO Standard is in its founding period (Constitution Section 6). During the founding period, the Release Calendar carries the following operational provisions:
The first minor release window is held flexibly to accommodate the maturation of the practitioner pipeline. The Calendar may indicate a target window before that window is binding; firm release dates are communicated thirty days in advance per the Change Management Process Section 4 commitment.
Structural changes made during the founding period are recorded with an explicit “founding-period structural change” annotation in this Calendar’s Release Event Log. Per Constitution Section 6, such changes are subject to ratification by the Oversight Board within ninety days of its formal seating.
This Section 6 sunsets when the Oversight Board is formally seated; at that point the Calendar’s release governance defaults to the standard provisions of the Change Management Process without the founding-period flexibility.
Part of the CIAO Standard administrative instruments — see Standard Administration for the canonical index of operational policies and processes.
No source-standard register changes recorded yet. Entries appear automatically when a Register Addition or a source-standard version change is published through the Change Management & Versioning Process.