Time Series Continuity as Governance Constraint

Classification systems that support historical analysis must treat backward compatibility as a first-class design constraint.

The SOC explicitly includes “time series continuity” as a classification principle: changes should be cross-walkable to prior versions wherever possible. This isn’t just about convenience, it’s about whether historical data remains interpretable as the schema evolves.

The implication: every proposed category change must answer “how do we map old data to new categories and vice versa?” Systems that ignore this end up with broken time series, orphaned historical data, and analysts who can’t trust trend lines across schema versions.

Related: 06-molecule—crosswalks-for-interoperability, 06-atom—classification-principles-vs-coding-guidelines