Interoperability and open standards for eGovernment Services

1
Interoperability and open standards for
eGovernment Services

• Hugo LUEDERS
• Initiative for Software Choice
• Director, Europe-Middle East, and Africa

2
ISC an Industry Coalition of some 300 software
companies 80 in Europe

• To ensure that all software licensing and
  development models remain viable
• - proprietary, hybrid and OSS
• Software should be chosen on its merits and
  value, not through categorical preferences
• - tested by professional experiences
  and law
• (incl. EU public procurement
  regulations)

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ISC core principles

• Procure software (case-by-case) on its merits and
  value, not on its license or development model
• Promote universal availability of
  government-funded research, no RD default
  preference
• Promote interoperability through platform neutral
  and open standards
• Maintain strong IPRs to promote pro-competitive
  software development solutions

4
ISC addresses mandatory preference
policies worldwide

• Nearly 70 such discriminatory laws, decrees or
  policies proposed in many countries - not only in
  Europe
• These policies may include or make use of
  secondary legislation, administrative guidance or
  technical specifications or advice to impose
  exclusive standards
• Preference laws will deter investors
• - software companies, local resellers and
  developers
• would suffer and the industry and
  society as a whole
• would be hurt

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Do Governments need these preference
policies?

• e-security No clear-cut winner
• Licence costs Software is a fraction of the TCO
• through the whole value chain
• Free service No free lunch service costs will
• come down the road
• Employment Expert services might be
• outsourced to other regions or countries
• Interoperability Everyone agrees that products
  must interoperate through open standards

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Interoperability and Open Standards What
does Interoperability mean?

• Functional ability of two or more systems to
  interact or to be used easily or automatically in
  combination with each other
• Built and underpinned by and through adopted
  standards
• A needed quality in the ICT industries
• Provides connectivity between hardware or
  software, and between entities (government/busines
  s/citizens)
• Increases flexibility and agility, reduces costs
  and implementation time

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The Interoperability Continuum

• Loose coupling vs. Tight coupling?
• Coupling not through categorical preferences but
  case-by-case according to the specific
  interoperability facets
• Examples
• Content or service provider to run a service
  over any suitable platform
• Consumers the ability to download content from
  different sources
• Galileo/GPS network interoperability security to
  differ from local data interchange requirements

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How is the ICT Industry achieving
interoperability?
OSI Protocol
Web Services
ebXML
Application
Orchestration
Security
Reliability
Management
Presentation
Trading Partner Agreement
Registry/Repository
Discovery
Session
Publication
Business Process
Transport
Description
Network
Core Components
Message
Data Link
Messaging
Transport
Physical
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Technical Interoperability

• EIF 1.0 (18 Nov. 04) describes 3 interop aspects
• - Technical communications
  infrastructure
• - Semantic making business data
  understandable
• - Organisational aligning business
  processes
• First Technical Interoperability
• Standards developed through open processes
• Adoption driven by customers requirements for
  standards adherence
• Standards and interoperability best when
  processes loosely coupled not by tight
  categorical preference

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How to align Semantic and Organisational
Interoperability?

• Semantic interop driven by major software
  companies leading public or private end-users
• Organisational interop business process
  standards driven by the market, major vendors and
  leading end-users
• Problem aligning semantics and business processes
• To agree on meaning of information
• To agree on processes laws must align
• Alignment not a systems problem political
  problem

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Open standards and Open Source are not synonymous

• Open standards
• Specifications describing programme or device
  characteristics, available to the technical
  community, and vetted through open process, e.g.
• W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
• OASIS (Organisation for the Advancement of
  Structured Information Standards)
• WS-I (Web Services-Interoperability Organisation)
• Open Source Software (OSS)
• Source code is available to the general public
  for use and/or modification from original design
  without fees

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Interoperability through open standards

• Open Source Software may, or may not,
  interoperate
• OSS should interoperate with other OSS if the 2
  end point apps adhere to the same open
  standard/version
• The fact that software is open source does not
  mean that it necessarily implements the same open
  standards as other Open Source Software
  applications
• Proprietary software may also implement open
  standards and may, or may not, interoperate
• Open standards specify the characteristics of the
  wire (the external interfaces) and both OSS as
  well as proprietary software may adhere to open
  standards

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The EIF Open Standards SettingsAny need to
redefine the adopted term open standards?

• Maintained by a not-for-profit organisation, with
  an open decision-making procedure
• Published and docs are available either freely or
  at a nominal charge permissible to all to copy,
  distribute and use it for no fee or at a nominal
  fee
• The IP i.e. patents possibly present of
  (parts of) the standard is made irrevocably
  available royalty-free
• There are no constraints on the re-use of the
  standard
• EIF 1.0 version of 18 Nov. 2004

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Global Standards Collaboration GSC IPR
Policies to provide incentives to interoperate,
innovate and compete

• Respecting the contribution of valuable IP assets
• Balancing all stakeholders interests to make
  outcomes representative, inclusive and more
  broadly supported
• Being open and transparent for all to review
• Promoting the use of the best technical solutions
• Being consistent with globally accepted F/RAND
  norms to receive reasonable and adequate
  compensation
• 9th GSC meeting, Seoul 2004 (incl. ETSI)

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The EICTA Open Standards Criteria

• Control the evolution of the specification
  should be set in transparent process open to all
  interested contributors
• Completeness the technical requirements of the
  solution to be specified enough to guarantee full
  interoperability
• Compliance there is a substantial
  standard-compliant offering promoted by
  proponents of the standard
• Cost fair reasonable and non-discriminatory
  access (RAND) is provided to IP unavoidably used
  in standard implementation

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Open Standards/Open Source ANSI Comments

• OSS refers to software that is distributed under
  a certain license and not to the process by which
  a technical standard or specification is
  formulated
• The terms open and openness (in conjunction
  with standards) characterise a process by which
  standards are subject to open, consensus-based
  procedures
• The unrelated terms open source or open source
  software are properly used only to characterise
  a form of software distribution
• 27th Oct. 2004 letter to the FTC

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Legal limits for Open Standards Definitions

• EU law prohibits the definition of specifications
  excluding certain undertakings from a public
  tender
• European case-law on technical standards prevents
  exclusive reference to a particular standard or
  technical solution (Dundalk case, Unix case)
• Imposing OSS-style Open Standards as a matter
  of principle in public procurement would
  contradict EU law, public procurement directives
  and Intellectual Property Rights
• cf. ISC Legal Note of 16 Sept. 2004

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Conclusions no easy answers

• Public Procurement preference laws or standards
  do
• not help, are not needed and therefore
  should be avoided
• Lack of proof or reliable data over special value
  of
• OSS-style Open Standards for economic
  development
• The arguments for and against each kind of
  software model are very finely balanced
  competitive advantages
• Technological neutrality will serve the public
  and the citizen best
• Openness and neutrality principle reconfirmed by
  2003 WSIS Declaration and Action Plan

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Contact ISC Secretariat EMEA B-1040
Brussels, 6, Rond Point Schuman Tel
32-2/234.78.22, mobile [phone]
e-mail hlueders_at_comptia.orgISC webpage
www.softwarechoice.org