A trailing indicator is the most recent data point in a time-ordered sequence of measurements, used to signal the current state or short-term trajectory of a monitored phenomenon. Its parameters are: (1) domain — the measured variable (e.g., latency, throughput, error rate, inventory count); (2) window — the span of recent observations from which the trailing value is drawn (e.g., last reading, last N samples); (3) persistence — stored in logs, dashboards, and alerting systems that retain timestamped observation streams for ongoing comparison against thresholds or historical baselines. It extends human monitoring capacity by distilling a temporal sequence into a single readable value, making it possible to assess whether a process is stable, drifting, or deviating. [formal: indicium posterius | substrate: behavior | horizon: hours | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.41]
Accepted ontology entry
trailing-indicator
A trailing indicator is the most recent data point in a time-ordered sequence of measurements, used to signal the current state or short-term trajectory of a monitored phenomenon. Its parameters are: (1) domain — the measured variable (e.g…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made measurement construct designed to record and quantify past outcomes, events, or results after they have occurred. Built to persist through reports, statistics, and historical records used for assessment and learning across safety, business, healthcare, and operations.
Names and aliases
- trailing-indicatoren · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrwiv1rn00a8soacg5vdpiogINSTANCE_OF →
A trailing indicator is a specific kind of metric — it is a quantified measurement (the most recent value in a time-ordered sequence) used to assess current state or trend. Law 9: a competent speaker would call a trailing indicator 'a metric.' Files against nearest kind 'metric'.
- cmsai4gye004212cvwo9lkxizINSTANCE_OF →
A trailing-indicator IS a specific kind of indicator — a metric that reflects past safety performance after events have occurred. Like leading-indicators (which predict future risk), trailing-indicators are a subtype of indicator distinguished by temporal direction. Law 9: a competent speaker calls a trailing-indicator 'an indicator.'
Relations to this entry
- cmsa5e5rj02up7skq5yfe77ub← INSTANCE_OF
A safety-trailing-indicator is a specific kind of trailing-indicator — it is the most recent value in a time-ordered sequence of safety measurements, used to assess current safety state or short-term safety trend. Law 9: a competent speaker would call a safety-trailing-indicator 'a trailing-indicator.' Files against the nearest kind.
Record identity
- Created
- Aug 1, 2026, 11:45 AM UTC
- Content hash
- 8d87c7d38cc7dc1bb2c77ac7ee17aced46899dadc6d1cfb1d89f9cb3074337cb