Selection and Use of Open Standards

Addressing limitations in order to exploit the potential of open standards

What are Open Standards? Why Open Standards?

Open standards typically share a number of characteristics: Open standards in IT seek to provide the following benefits:
CONTEXT

• A trusted neutral organisation responsible for the • Application- and device-independence.

ownership and maintenance of the standard. • Maximise access to resources and services.
• Access to the standard is available to all for free or at a • Ensure architectural integrity.
reasonable cost. • Provide long-term access.
• Use of the standard is unencumbered by licencing or In brief we can say that open standards aim to enhance the
patent restrictions. interoperability of services.

The Challenges
Despite the widespread awareness of the potential benefits which open standards can provide use
of open standards does not always bring about such benefits for a number of reasons:
• Standards become finalised too quickly, before their limitations are realised.
• Standards fail to be implemented in the marketplace.
• Standards are too complex to be used or too expensive to deploy.
• The migration from existing approaches is too costly and the benefits are felt to be marginal.
• Existing proprietary solutions become more open.

Addressing the Challenges

Staff at UKOLN, JISC CETIS, JISC OSS Watch and the wider
TOWARDS A SOLUTION

development community have collaborated in developing

approaches which seek to exploit the potential benefits of
open standards whilst minimising associated risks.
This work has included papers on "A Standards Framework For
Digital Library Programmes“, “A Contextual Framework For
Standards”, “Addressing The Limitations Of Open Standards“
and “Openness in Higher Education: Open Source, Open
Standards, Open Access”.
These papers, which were presented at the ichim05, WWW
2006, Museums and the Web 2007 and elPub 2007
conferences, are based on many years of experiences of staff in
JISC Innovation Support Centres and others in supporting the
development community in the exploitation of open standards.

An Opportunities and Risks Framework for the Selection and Use of Open Standards

Biases About the Opportunities and Risks Framework

Intended The most recent development built on UKOLN’s risk assessment work
Purpose and was presented at CETIS’s Future of Interoperability Standards
meeting.
Benefits
The opportunities and risks framework for the selection of emerging
Risks
standards requires development activities to document: Further Information
• The intended purpose of standards to be used in development
Further information on UKOLN work
Missed work.
described in this poster is available at :
Opportunities • The benefits which the standard is intended to provide.
<http://bit.ly/jisc-11-posters>
• The possible risks associated with use of the standard.
Costs • The risks (i.e. the missed opportunities) entailed in not using the
Risk standard.
Minimisation • The associated costs associated in use of the standard.
• Plans for minimising the risks which have been identified.
Evidence
Base In addition, since there may be subjective factors and biases the
documentation should be informed by evidence and case studies.
Subjective factors

16-Feb-2011