Open Standards for software interoperability, data and document formats
*NOTE: According to the UK Government, an open standard will exhibit all of the following criteria: Collaboration – the standard is maintained through a collaborative decision-making process that is consensus-based and independent of any individual supplier; Transparency – the standard has a transparent decision-making process; Due process – the standard is adopted by a specification or standardization organization, or a forum or consortium with a feedback and ratification process to ensure quality; Market support – other than in the context of creating innovative solutions, the standard is mature, supported by the market and demonstrates platform, application and vendor independence; Fair access – the standard is published, thoroughly documented and publicly available at zero or low cost; Rights – rights essential to the implementation of the standard, and for interfacing with other implementations which have adopted that same standard, are licensed on a royalty-free basis that is compatible with both open source and proprietary licensed solutions
