Brian Kelly suggests:
rather than seeking a formal definition of open standards, we needed a more flexible approach based on an understanding of the characteristics of open standards.
People interested in the idea that standards can be defined in ways other than through formal standards bodies will be interested in the keynote address at ApacheCon US08 by David Recordon of the Open Web Foundation and Six Apart. This keynote (see videocast), titled “Learning from Apache to Create Open Specifications”, examined how many of the important specifications today were developed in an ad-hoc way outside of the usual standards body, often with a new foundation being created to manage the specification.
David then went on to explore how this process could be formalised in the way that the Apache Software Foundation has formalised the process for creating and managing open source software. David argued that by focusing on licensing, copyright management, community development and incubation we can better manage the creation of clear and flexible open specifications.
The Open Web Foundation is a new initiative, modeled on the Apache Software Foundation, which focuses on the community definition of open specifications. It’s early days for the foundation at present. They are currently working on the licensing issues with lawyers and the general structure of the foundation. If you are at all interested in the future of open specifications join the community and help forge the future.
Note the slides for this Keynote are available on Slideshare