The Ghana Systems Project — Strategic Research Programme
A long-horizon, interdisciplinary GAB research programme whose permanent purpose is to build an evidence-based, integrated and continuously revisable understanding of Ghana as a living national system so that GAB and other legitimate users can make more meaningful decisions. Its governed methodology—Evidence, Knowledge, optional Models, decision support and Living Corpus—is an enabling capability, not the programme's replacement purpose. Real-world strategic questions may enter through approved Bounded System Inquiries. The earlier private-sector and 30-year macroeconomic work remains the first empirical anchor. A reusable Country Systems Methodology is only a possible future derivative after demonstrated transfer beyond Ghana. Recommendation: Retain the current architecture and add the Cross-Inquiry Relationship Register as D14. Validate it inside the Phase 0 controlled BSI through the expanded CT-08; do not create a new requirement, phase or database table yet. The architecture is ready for disciplined execution once G2 conditions are explicitly approved. Expected benefits: A reusable national-systems research capability; higher-quality GAB strategy and market intelligence; a durable evidence asset; differentiated consultancy and public thought leadership; a disciplined publication series; and, in later maturity, bounded scenario tools and a reusable Country Systems Methodology. Promoted from Portfolio & Business Analysis initiative d5b8c3a8-396e-49b1-be34-688dc03590bb.
Initiative to Operations Spine
Trace the work from Portfolio justification through Project delivery and operational handover.
G0-G2
Portfolio & BA
converted
G3
Plan / baseline
Current gate
G4
Execute, monitor & control
Pending or passed
G5
Acceptance / release
Pending or passed
G6
Closure / benefits
Pending
Source initiative
The Ghana Systems Project — Strategic Research Programme
d5b8c3a8-396e-49b1-be34-688dc03590bb • project module • G3
Retain the current architecture and add the Cross-Inquiry Relationship Register as D14. Validate it inside the Phase 0 controlled BSI through the expanded CT-08; do not create a new requirement, phase or database table yet. The architecture is ready for disciplined execution once G2 conditions are explicitly approved.
Record Project Gate
Use for G3 baseline approval, G4 execution/control completion, G5 acceptance, and G6 closure or benefits review decisions.
Gate History
Portfolio G0-G2 and Project G3-G6 decisions in one view.
G0 — go
Portfolio & BA • Daniel Nsowah • 10 Jul 2026
Proceed to grounded research on both threads (Ghana private sector landscape; 30-year trade/macroeconomic data) via research_ghana_market / deep_research_request, then draft needs assessment for G1.
G1 — go
Portfolio & BA • Daniel Nsowah • 26 Jul 2026
Authorize Phase 0 charter preparation and controlled-pilot design only. G2 must baseline the pilot question/corpus, capability-test thresholds, reviewer roles, schedule, cost/capacity, risks, failure/re-test rules and acceptance criteria before Project promotion. Broader Ghana research, Living Corpus production, scenario modelling and any claim of a validated/exportable Country Systems Methodology remain out of scope. Phase 0 exit requires evidence of M2—Pilot Demonstrated; completion of documents alone is insufficient.
G2 — go
Portfolio & BA • Daniel Nsowah • 31 Jul 2026
Authorize and promote only Phase 0 — Ghana Systems Knowledge Methodology Architecture and Controlled Pilot — under the approved eight-week charter, D1–D14, CT-01–CT-08, M2 exit target, frozen controlled-pilot boundary, BSI/D13 and cross-inquiry/D14 controls. No external expenditure is authorized; any reviewer fee, dataset purchase or specialist engagement requires separate CEO approval. Named reviewer availability must be confirmed before dependent review tests proceed. No Phase 1, Ghana Cassava System Inquiry, broader Ghana research, public Living Corpus output, scenario modelling, predictive claim or Country Systems Methodology claim is authorized. Maintain a Methodology Lessons Log during execution without changing the approved charter in real time; proposed improvements are reviewed at midpoint/closure through change control.
BA Documents Carried Forward
The pre-project logic that should govern delivery decisions.
No source BA documents available.
Transition to Operations
Define where the project output lives after delivery.
No operational handover recorded.
Requirements Traceability
BR-001: The programme must operate as a governed strategic research programme in Portfolio & BA, with each delivery stream separately authorized and bounded before becoming a Project or work package.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
G2-approved charter defines programme scope, governance, Phase 0 and Phase 1; no research stream exists in Projects without an approved parent linkage.
NFR-001: Every material fact, claim, hypothesis, interpretation and scenario assumption must be classified and traceable to evidence, provenance, confidence, limitations and revision history.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
A reviewer can navigate from any material published claim to its registered sources, dates, scope, confidence and revision record.
AR-001: The canonical Knowledge Base must remain logically separate from the Living Corpus of books, essays, papers and public outputs.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
Evidence records are not stored only inside narrative documents; every Living Corpus claim references canonical evidence records.
ETH-001: The programme must study behavioural patterns under specified conditions and must not assign fixed psychological, commercial, political or cultural traits to Ghanaian, ethnic, regional or social groups.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
All social/behavioural outputs specify context and plausible alternatives; review finds no unsupported group-essentialist claim.
MTH-001: Major explanations must test multiple disciplinary and competing causal hypotheses rather than rely on a single-discipline or founder-belief explanation.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
Each major synthesis documents relevant disciplines, competing explanations, evidence for/against and residual uncertainty.
TR-001: The existing private-sector and 30-year trade/macroeconomic research must be preserved as legacy evidence and migrated into Phase 1 with all cautions and gaps intact.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
The World Bank series, FDI-verification gap, HS-code gap, research-tool method correction and uncompleted Data Trust check are all present in the Phase 1 backlog.
MOD-001: Scenario or predictive modelling must not begin until descriptive data, causal hypotheses, assumptions, validation strategy and uncertainty controls have passed a separate maturity gate.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
No scenario model is represented as decision-grade before the documented model-readiness criteria and human review pass.
PUB-001: No external publication or client-facing claim may be released without Data Trust clearance, interdisciplinary review appropriate to the claim and CEO approval through the governed publication path.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
Every public output has registered evidence status, review record, limitation note and approval provenance.
EPI-001: Every claim entering the programme must pass the Epistemology Framework: explicit claim type, supporting and contradictory evidence, scope conditions, assumptions, falsifiers, confidence rationale and review trigger.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
A sample audit of every active claim class shows all mandatory epistemic fields populated; incomplete claims are blocked from synthesis or publication.
AR-002: The Knowledge Base must implement three governed internal layers—Evidence, Knowledge and Models—with explicit provenance and review controls at each transition.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
Each record is assigned to exactly one epistemic layer; Evidence→Knowledge and Knowledge→Model transitions record method, author role, reviewer, date and upstream references.
GOV-002: Every proposed new research domain must pass a domain-admission gate demonstrating material explanatory value, integration with approved questions, source feasibility, non-duplication, review capacity and a bounded deliverable.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
Every active domain has a recorded admit decision and satisfied criteria; deferred and rejected domains remain visible without consuming active programme capacity.
ROLE-001: Every substantive work package must assign evidence-contributor, domain-specialist, systems-integrator and governance-review responsibilities, including independent review at material layer transitions.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
No substantive work package begins without named role assignments; every material synthesis and model has an identifiable independent reviewer.
MAT-001: The methodology must use evidence-based maturity levels M0–M6, with explicit review before progression and no automatic promotion based on elapsed time, document completion or completion of the Ghana corpus.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
Every claimed maturity level has the required evidence and recorded decision; M6 is blocked until the method transfers successfully to at least one additional national context.
CAP-001: Phase 0 success must be determined by demonstrated methodology capabilities, not completion of architecture documents.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
The baselined pilot tests consistent classification, provenance, competing interpretations, confidence calibration, interdisciplinary integration, layer-transition auditability and independent reproduction; all mandatory tests pass or an approved exception blocks dependent downstream scope.
PILOT-001: Phase 0 must validate the methodology on a small, controlled Ghana pilot while keeping broader Ghana subject research explicitly out of scope.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
The G2 charter identifies one bounded pilot question/corpus, names exclusions, prevents scope spillover and defines how pilot results change the methodology.
PUR-001: The permanent purpose of the Ghana Systems Project is to develop an integrated, evidence-based and continually revisable understanding of Ghana as a living national system for meaningful decisions; methodology, BSIs, models and publications must remain subordinate to that purpose.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
Every phase, BSI and material deliverable states its contribution to Ghana understanding or decision capability; any proposed purpose change returns to Programme Board rescope.
BSI-001: Every Bounded System Inquiry must have an approved BSI Specification before research begins, covering decision need, bounded question, scope, exclusions, hypotheses, evidence, Ghana Systems contribution, output path, model justification, integration, risks, roles, exit criteria and knowledge integration.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
No BSI has execution activity before approval; material changes are re-approved; closure verifies exit criteria and canonical knowledge integration.
MOD-002: A formal model is optional for a BSI and may be created only when evidence, explanatory need, maturity and validation controls justify it; inquiry success may legitimately end with validated Knowledge and Decision Support.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
Every BSI records why a model is or is not required; no model claim exceeds the inquiry scope, evidence or recorded maturity.
INT-001: Validated BSI findings, contradictions, limitations and provenance must enter the canonical Knowledge Base before they are used for decision support, a model or a Living Corpus derivative.
linked • planning • scope • task linked • quality linked
A closed BSI has traceable canonical knowledge records and an impact note for affected knowledge/models; reports alone do not satisfy integration.