Openness and Legitimacyin Standards Development

Andrew Updegrove, Partner, Gesmer Updegrove LLP

11/30/2012
(Original Publish Date: 11/30/2012)

Consensus regarding which specifications can rightfully claim to be 'open standards' has been notably difficult to achieve in recent times. Usually, the question is academic, but when governments restrict their very substantial purchasing power to the acquisition of products and services implementing only such standards, then the selection of openness criteria can become contentious. In this article, I review the norms of openness observed by traditional SDOs and modern consortia in light of their standards-related goals, and traditional as well as cutting edge definitions of openness to be found in a variety of modern national government, international treaty, and private sector settings.