The real system you govern is how your organisation interprets reality. In modern organisations, interpretation is built into systems—dashboards, models, and algorithms. These structures determine what is seen, valued, and acted on. This paper defines that layer as Meaning Infrastructure and shows why governing it is central to maintaining alignment. As AI expands, managing interpretation becomes the core task of governance. About the Coherence ProgrammeThe Coherence Programme studies why institutions drift despite appearing aligned. It shows that decisions are made not on intent itself, but on how intent is translated into criteria, metrics, and allocation rules. Using the Operating Spine, the programme traces how purpose becomes action across governance layers, making drift and coherence directly observable within decision systems. The research applies to public institutions, capital allocation, and AI-mediated environments, where the durability of decision rules determines long-term institutional reliability.Programme citation: Mertens, R. E. U. (2026). The Coherence Programme: A Conceptual Overview and Entry Point to the Research Programme. Resources: Coherence Programme OSF repository and https://thecoherenceprogramme.org Version 2.00: This is the first public release of this manuscript within the research programme structure. The paper presents the design-oriented analysis linking translation drift to meaning infrastructure and governance implications. Cross-paper terminology has been harmonised, the unit-of-analysis statement has been standardised across the series, and reference architecture has been aligned. The positioning of AI as interpretive traceability support is consistent with the architectural and methodological papers. No empirical datasets are associated with this version.Version 2.01: consolidates the manuscript within the full research programme structure. Cross-paper terminology has been harmonised, titles and references have been aligned with the programme statement, and internal cross-references have been updated. No changes have been made to the formal decision-learning architecture, measurement logic, boundary conditions, or theoretical claims. Empirical studies, measurement instruments, and field applications are in preparation and will be released in subsequent linked records.Version 2.02: Programme Consolidation Update: This version consolidates the manuscript within the unified Coherence Programme structure.Titles, terminology, and internal cross-references have been harmonised across the series to stabilise the programme’s core constructs: Translation Drift (mechanism) Translation Coherence (metric) Interpretive Maintenance (governance function) Distributed Coherence (theoretical integration) No changes have been made to the formal architecture, boundary conditions, methodological logic, or theoretical claims.The update improves cross-paper traceability, indexing consistency, and conceptual coherence across the programme.Version 2.03: Terminology harmonisation and minor structural refinements to improve consistency across the Coherence Programme. No changes to the theoretical framework, constructs, or research design.Version 2.04: Minor conceptual clarifications, consistency improvements, reviewer-informed refinements, and editorial updates across the programme.
Robin Edgard Ulrik Mertens (Fri,) studied this question.