A pragmatic European approach to open standards (a must-read)

Tony Austin
Sunday, 09 November 2008 12:37

Opinion and Analysis

First and foremost, says the report, standards guarantee interoperability (Egyedi & Heijnen, 2005). As the European Interoperability Framework EIF 1.01 states:

“Interoperability means the ability of information and communication technology (ICT) systems and of the business processes they support to exchange data and to enable the sharing of information and knowledge.”

Interoperability is best guaranteed and facilitated by open standards. Open standards are developed in a transparent and collaborative process, are available for free or at a nominal cost and can be implemented royalty free – in particular regarding software interoperability standards – or at reasonable cost.

Furthermore, open standards have demonstrable impact on the software ecosystem. A recent empirical study of best practice in eGovernment mentions the use of open standards among its top seven recommendations for success.

"The full range of benefits specific to open standards includes, above all, network effects, protecting buyers and consumers, and enhancing fair competition. Network effects mean that the more users adopt a standard, the more efficient it becomes. Examples of network effects abound in the hardware area. We can think of telephones, fax machines or cell phones."

Many EU Member States have frameworks that recognize this challenge and some even have preference
mandates for open standards, which contribute to fair procurement, economic growth, and reduced vendor
lock-in.

Hence, say the report's authors, the task of this article is to describe the importance of open standards for software interoperability, and analyzing the evidence."

"Actually, it has been said that: “Policymakers need empirical validation that open standards are indeed beneficial. Without such evidence, it would be ill-advised to blindly put into place preferential policies that favor open standards.”

They continue: "We will describe the state-of-the-art on policies, practices and impacts. Our evidence base is derived from economic analysis, case studies, public policy, theory and industrial practice."

PLEASE READ ON...