Open Standards are essential for interoperability and freedom of choice based on the merits of different software applications. They provide freedom from data lock-in and the subsequent supplier lock-in. This makes Open Standards essential for governments, companies, organisations and individual users of information technology.

Definition

An Open Standard refers to a format or protocol that is:

1. Subject to full public assessment and use without constraints in a manner equally available to all parties;
2. Without any components or extensions that have dependencies on formats or protocols that do not meet the definition of an Open Standard themselves;
3. Free from legal or technical clauses that limit its utilisation by any party or in any business model;
4. Managed and further developed independently of any single supplier in a process open to the equal participation of competitors and third parties;
5. Available in multiple complete implementations by competing suppliers, or as a complete implementation equally available to all parties.

What Open Standards mean to you

Open Standards ensure that you can:

• Collaborate and communicate with others, regardless of which software they are using
• Upgrade or replace your apps and still be able to open and edit your old files
• Choose which phone / tablet / computer you want to use without worrying about compatibility

Open Standards ensure that society has:

• More competitive software and tech products
• More efficient governmental systems and services
• More accessible high-end software for innovation and experimentation

More information on Open Standards

• Wikipedia
• Open Standards by the Free Software Foundation Europe
• UN IGF Dynamic Coalition on Open Standards
• The Digital Standards Organisation
• OpenStandards.net
• List of groups defining Open Standards