Position statement
IBM Promotes Open Standards for Interoperability
Across the globe, governments are promoting "openness" as an essential step toward greater social and economic development. Governments want to be open to their citizens, open to the increasingly interconnected economies of other nations and open to choose the best technology platform for their administration.
Open, in reality, is a continuum with various degrees in its spectrum. IBM recognizes that there is a balance between technologies that can operate effectively and successfully in a proprietary environment and technologies which require openness to thrive. Governments, too, need to make pragmatic decisions on how open to be and in which circumstances.
To move toward openness, particularly for software interoperability, IBM and a number of governments are arriving at similar conclusions – industry developed open standards are often strategic necessities. This paper seeks to explain the benefits of open standards and how best to evolve toward open standards for greater software interoperability.
Open Standards Drive Present and Future Benefits
History has demonstrated that by adopting common standards, society achieves uncommon results. Standardization in electricity, train switches and maritime have transformed our world. The Internet, based on broad participation and availability of the standard specifications, has opened peoples’ lives and created boundless opportunities for growth and exploration. As reflected by this experience, open standards provide vital benefits-
- Collaborative innovation; unravel serious problems too complex to be solved by a single individual, agency or government. Problem-solvers thrive in community environments knowing their innovations will work across applications, platforms and networks. And, collaboration can lead to more and better product ideas in shorter time.
- Flexibility; increase technology options for citizens, users, and implementers to easily configure information systems, procure technology from a variety of vendors, and adapt to ever-changing requirements and procedures.
- Interoperability; eliminate barriers that inhibit communications and information sharing, appropriately and effectively, within and across government, especially in critical public applications like health care, public safety and education.
- Cost effectiveness; avoid vendor lock-in, increase competition and drive lower prices.
- Freedom of action; obtain a level playing field and lessen risk so that no one company can pace, control or block technology; rather, an open community leads.
Open Standards Are Not Born; They Evolve
Open standards is the technical term to describe interface, protocol, format and language specifications. For example, how an electronic message is packaged in an "envelope", how security is enforced to make sure the proper recipient receives the transmission and how the information is formatted are determined by technical specifications. These standards mature at different rates and to different levels of openness within a framework of necessary characteristics. Open standard specifications must be:
- Published without restriction; the standard is available at no charge or a charge that is reasonable in cost and can be reasonably administered by parties in the implicated industry.
- Made freely available for adoption by the industry; historically reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) and royalty free standards have co-existed. Those standards essential for software interoperable in e-government services, and those essential to accommodate the open source community, should be royalty free.
- Controlled by an open industry organization with a well-defined inclusive process for evolution of the standard. This important condition guards against the possibility of individual vendor modifying a standard with the intent of disadvantaging competing suppliers.
- Implemented by offerings available in the market; having various vendors who offer solutions enables choice for procurers and longevity for users.
Open Standards Are Not Open Source
Whereas open standards provide the technical specifications for implementing features and functions, open source refers to software code that is publicly available in human understandable (source code) form, enabling anyone to copy, modify and redistribute it without paying royalties or fees. Either or both of these openness tools – standards and software -can be vital in the appropriate context.
Open standards for software interoperability are typically built by software engineers from technology companies who collaborate under the auspices of organizations such as W3C, IETF and OASIS. IBM actively participates with these and other organizations.
Governments Need Pragmatic Action
Government procurement policies that promote openness in this context make eminent sense. When crafting, governments should insist that products meet the characteristics of open standards and that the goal of openness is taken into account. Governments should prefer or give priority to open standards when they apply and consider provisions that:
- Address interoperability by referencing open standards, when they exist, and by seeking the benefits and goals of openness.
- Focus on services, not technology so that needs are defined independent of specific vendors, hardware platforms, operating systems, and programming languages in which the service is implemented.
- Ensure choice from a variety of technologies for governments to "plug and play" and for citizens to choose how they want to access and receive services.
In addition, governments can promote open standards for software interoperability by:
- Contributing user requirements to standard organizations, like those shared above.
- Encouraging major vendors to participate in technical committees of standard bodies and engage in the evolution of such open industry specifications.
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