When it comes to the intersection and interaction between open source and traditional standards, panelists felt that people tend to get wrapped up in the legal issues and licensing, but it's really about organizational culture. Is this the type of organization that can embrace open source solutions?
And when it comes to standards and open source working together, panelists found that technical interoperability is almost never the problem. Rather the roadblocks come with borders, semantics, people, organizational culture, and business models.
They also discussed the issue of "lock-in" - where a particular technology, product, or solution becomes dominant - reminding attendees that this is largely a commercial issue, not a technical one. The open source community needs to understand that it may need to abdicate some freedoms in order to have commercial agreements.
Finally, panelists described open source as synonymous with innovation and continuous improvement. But some areas of industry prefer solutions that have long-term stability to protect their investment, particularly in risky fields like cybersecurity.
The Right Tool for the Job: Traditional Standards, Open Source, and Hybridization
Having heard how industry stakeholders are using traditional standards and open source, how does the broader standards development community satisfy industry requirements? For example, some standards developing organizations (SDOs) have already hybridized their work and are working effectively within both the traditional and open source environments. Panelists from these organizations shared their experiences with "hybridization" alongside perspectives from those who are working in a purely open source environment.
Panelists (presentations linked) included:
Ted Hardie, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Scott McGrath, Chief Operating Officer, OASIS
Wendy Seltzer, Policy Counsel and Domain Lead, Technology and Society, W3C
Panelists were unanimous in stating that standards and open source can and do work well together. It's all about implementation and which solution or solutions are right for the product, service, or scenario.
In terms of the practical aspects of specification development, panelists noted that Github is like Facebook for the open source community - everyone is using it. We may see a transition to a Github-like approach in traditional standards development as well.
Finally, if the traditional standards community wants to move faster, one panelist suggested that SDOs look at aspects of the open source model.
IPR Policies and the Business of Standardization
How have organizations' IPR policies and business models been impacted by hybridization? Panelists (presentations linked) included:
Michael Atlass, Senior Legal Counsel, Qualcomm Incorporated
Karen Copenhaver, Partner, Choate Hall & Stewart LLP
Michael Richmond, Executive Director, Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF)
Patent issues are complex, and different organizations are using different approaches to this challenge. While the Apache 2.0 license is common in the open source community - in summary, you can do what you like with the software, as long as you include the required notices - there is no one best practice that has emerged across all organizations.
Event proceedings are also posted on www.ansi.org/opensource2016. The photos taken at the event are available as well.