Open standards & artifacts for accountable systems.

Glossary entry

Permanent link /glossary/irreversibility-index

Irreversibility Index

Glossary entry in Measures & indicators. Definitions, checks, and evidence for Irreversibility Index.

Glossary index

Return to the glossary index.

Explore 13 glossary territories and search 211 terms from one place.

Browse the glossary

Quick takeaways

The share of system actions that cannot be undone.

Definition

The share of system actions that cannot be undone. Aim to keep this as low as possible through reversibility and graceful degradation.

Targets & breach behavior. Measurement window: weekly p95; monthly median. Target / floor / ceiling: target ≤ 1%, floor ≤ 2%, ceiling 5%. Owner: Traceable Ownership (must have). Breach action: invoke ethical circuit breakers, activate rollback lanes, or trigger safe pause. Public surface: receipts and time transparency on irreversible boundaries.

Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Irreversibility Index to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.

Copy citation (APA/BibTeX)

Cite this glossary entry Formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, BibTeX, RIS

Version

v1.1.0

Last updated

Jan 9, 2026

DOI

Pending Zenodo deposit

APA

Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. (2026). Irreversibility Index. Ethotechnics glossary. https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/irreversibility-index

MLA

Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. "Irreversibility Index." Ethotechnics glossary, 2026, https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/irreversibility-index.

Chicago

Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. "Irreversibility Index." Ethotechnics glossary. Jan 9, 2026. https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/irreversibility-index.

BibTeX

@misc{glossary_irreversibility-index,
  title={Irreversibility Index},
  author={Ethotechnics Institute Research Team},
  year={2026},
  howpublished={Ethotechnics glossary},
  url={https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/irreversibility-index},
  version={v1.1.0}
}

RIS

TY  - WEB
TI  - Irreversibility Index
AU  - Ethotechnics Institute Research Team
PY  - 2026
UR  - https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/irreversibility-index
ER  -

Scholarly metadata

Authorship

Contact: research@ethotechnics.org

Publication details

  • Published: Dec 3, 2025
  • Last updated: Jan 9, 2026
  • Version: v1.1.0
  • DOI: Pending Zenodo deposit

License: CC BY-SA 4.0

Credit Ethotechnics Institute, include the term title + version, and link to the glossary permalink.

Archive snapshot: Wayback capture

Changelog

  • v1.1.0 · 2026-01-09 — Expanded scholarly metadata, operational tests, and provenance notes.
  • v1.0.0 · 2025-12-03 — Initial glossary release with stable permalinks.