What Are Open Technologies?
Open technologies (or Open ICT), in the most simple terms, are tools of transformation. Open ICT refers to technologies and methodologies such as open standards, open source software, open architectures and open processes.
Collaboration. Cost. Control. These are the key benefits that open technologies offer.
Open Standards
Standards are basically technical blueprints for designing something. For technology, standards are the blueprints used by developers to design hardware and applications.
What makes a standard "open"?
At a minimum, open standards are ...
- Not controlled by any entity with a vested interest.
- Platform independent, vendor neutral and usable for multiple implementations.
- Openly published (specifications and supporting material).
- Available royalty free.
- Managed and approved by a standards-setting body through a process open to any interested party.
Open standards allow all possible competitors equal access to the ability to implement the standard. They should not dictate any specific proprietary path or effectively foreclose any software development model. A standard that in effect blocks open source developers from its implementation is not an open standard.
Open standards allow for self-directed innovation.
Open Source
Open source describes principles and methodologies to promote open access to the production and design of various goods, products, resources and information.
The term is most commonly applied to software. Open source software is source code that is publicly available and may be copied, changed and redistributed without intellectual property restrictions or fees.
Open source and open standards are different.
Open standards are technical blueprints. Open source software is computer code. Open standards can be used to create either proprietary or open source software.
Why is open source important?
Collaboration, not code, is the power of open source.
By enabling mass, networked collaboration, open source is revolutionizing technology and many different industries and sectors.
Use of open source is growing rapidly as governments and companies worldwide are integrating open source into their ICT ecosystems and strategies.
Open Architecture
Most people associate open architecture with technical ideas like "enterprise architecture" and "service-oriented architecture," or SOA.
The OeG sees open architecture more broadly, and more from a business perspective. We do not focus on the architecture of your IT infrastructure. For us, open architecture is about your business, and the services you deliver.
Service-oriented business design is the key to business transformation.