Open Standards

What is a Standard?

A standard is a specification, or a set of instructions, detailing certain technical functionality that may be implemented in different products and services. More specifically, from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular 119, a standard is a “common and repeated use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods, and related management systems practices.” A key aspect is that discussions and eventual consensus on the agreement as to the “rules, conditions, and guidelines” for an open standard is done in a recognized standards organization.

What is an Open Standard?

From a narrow perspective, an open standard is one developed through an open, consensus process in which all stakeholders have the ability to participate. An essential requirement for any standards-setting or development organization is “openness.” From the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) definition, openness requires that “participation shall be open to all persons who are directly and materially affected by the activity in question. There shall be no undue financial barriers to participation. Voting membership in the consensus body shall not be conditional upon membership in any organization, nor unreasonably restricted on the basis of technical qualifications or other requirements.”

The Standards-Setting Process

To create an open, consensus-standards-setting environment, formal standards organizations have been created. There are two primary types of standards organizations: the standards development organization (SDO) and the standards-setting organization (SSO). An SDO is an [Page 332]organization that is an accredited representative of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). SSOs include not only SDOs but also trade associations, consortia, alliances, and other groups that develop standards. The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) are examples of SSOs.

All valid SSOs have a set of processes and procedures that ensure the development of open standards. Full consensus standards processes include elements of openness and public review, balanced participation among interest groups, and due process and appeals for aggrieved parties. Specifically, open consensus standards are developed using an open process that has certain important process features, including the following:

• Development of the standard in an open, international, participatory industry process that is documented in formally (and legally) approved policies and procedures.
• Consensus by the membership whereby membership is open to any organization or individual in a nondiscriminatory manner.
• Broad-based public review and comment on draft standards.
• Consideration of and response to comments submitted by voting members of the relevant consensus body as well as by the public.
• Incorporation of approved changes into a draft standard.
• Availability of an appeal by any participant alleging that due process principles were not respected during the standards development process.
• Free rights of distribution: An open license does not restrict any party from selling or giving away the standard as part of a software distribution. The open license does not require a royalty or other fee.
• Technology-neutral standard and license: No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.
• Consistent and rigorous intellectual property review to ensure that all standards developed by the SSO are royalty free and publicly available on a nondiscriminatory basis.

In summary, an open standard developed by an SSO is publicly available in writing or electronically to all who are interested in evaluating or using the standard. Further, no individual vendor restrictions may be imposed to access the standard, though a nominal fee may be charged by the standards organization to help defray its costs to develop the standard. Thus, open standards exist to enable interoperability in a marketplace of multiple, competing implementations, while ensuring that certain minimum requirements are met. An open standard is unrelated to the development model used for the implementation of that standard.

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