Interoperability?%20Are%20Standards%20The%20Answer?

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Interoperability? Are Standards The Answer?

• Brian Kelly
• UKOLN
• University of Bath
• Bath

Email B.Kelly_at_ukoln.ac.uk URL http//www.ukoln.ac.
uk/
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Contents
Role Of Open Standards
What Are Open Standards?
Why Open Standards?
Interoperability, Open Standards Open Source
Problems With Open Standards
Using Open Standards
Open Standards Software
Scope Of Open Standards
Why We Need QA
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Why Open Standards?
                                                   

• Standards are needed
• To provide application-independence remember
  when documents were trapped into particular word
  processing software
• To provide platform-independence allowing
  migration across PCs, Macs, Unix boxes, PDAs,
  etc.
• To support interoperability allowing data to be
  integrated across systems
• To provide long term access to data avoiding
  the digital dark ages
• To provide a coherent architectural model which
  allows for evolution and integration
• To provide an open marketplace allowing users
  to choice their preferred solution

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What Are Open Standards?

• Open standards characteristics
• Owned by acknowledged neutral body
• Specifications published openly (and freely?)
• Developments to specifications open to all
• Platform and application-neutral
• Relevant open standards bodies
• W3C ISO ECMA IETF
• Be wary of phrases such as user driven
  standards, market-place standards, etc.

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User-Driven Standards

• An alternative (New Labour) view
• Open standards bodies are bureaucratic,
  slow-moving, full of political intrigue,
• The market-place needs to be fast-moving to
  respond to users needs
• Competition helps drives success
• All major players subscribe to this view (MS,
  Sun, IBM, Macromedia, )
• Old Labour ideology is so last century

These views probably arent accepted by bearded,
left-of-centre Linux geeks but may be held by
the senior managers who are the target audience
of this workshops deliverables.
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The Bigger Picture

• There is more to service development than just
  standards

Standards concerned with protocols and file
formats
Architectures models for implementing systems
Open standards vs. Proprietary HTML / XML vs.
PDF / Flash CSS / XSL vs. HTML GIF vs PNG
Which standards are applicable NT / UnixFile
system / database application HTML tools /
content management
Applications software products used to implement
systems
Resources financial staff costs needed to
implement systems
Apache / IIS FrontPage / Dreamweaver Oracle /
SQLServer ColdFusion vs ASP
Development vs. Migration costs Use of in-house
expertise In-house vs. out-sourced Licensed vs.
open source
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What About The Users?

• What about our users?

Users
Do users actually want open standards or open
source? If not, what strategies do we adopt to
get them on our side, as the producers?
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The Problem With Standards (1)

• Is use of open standards the answer to Life, the
  Universe and Everything?
• Who remembers coloured books, ISO OSI Networking
  protocols, ?
• Warning
• Open standards may not catch on
• Their can be competing open standards
• Open standards may be too immature for service
  deployment (RDF?)
• Open standards developers are human too! They can
  make mistakes, be driven by ego,

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The Problem With Standards (2)

• Scope
• What needs to be compliant
• Only project deliverables, information about the
  project, the projects Intranet, Extranet, ?
• Spirit Of The Standards
• Papers submitted to WWW nn conference must be
  compliant HTML
• A paper I reviewed had the text included as
  several GIF images in a valid HTML page

You can use open standards, be fully compliant
and not be interoperable -(
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Open Standards And Software

• Software Language
• Mandate use of (open) standardised software
  which would prohibit use of Java
• Mandate standard client-side software but
  flexible on (managed) server environment
• Software Outputs
• Mandate procedures to ensure software outputs
  comply with appropriate standards (e.g. XML)
• Software Documentation
• Mandate use of open standards for documentation
  (XML, HTML but not PDF, )

Note that (draft) JISC Programme Guidelines have
inconsistencies in this area
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What Should We Do?

• JISC-funded QA Focus work
• Developed QA methodology to help ensure project
  deliverables were functional, widely accessible
  and interoperable
• Self-assessment rather than external checking
• Promoted an open standards culture
• See lthttp//www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/gt

Advantages Reflects HE software development
culture tolerant of diversity (skills,
resources, ) encourages sharing of best
practices Disadvantages Permits organisations to
perpetuate existing, non-optimal practices no
guarantees of interoperability woolly
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Interoperability? We Must Have QA!

• The danger
• We mandate (or encourage) use of open standards
• The community seeks to uses them
• But
• Inappropriate standards / implementation
  architecture used due to lack of understanding
• Standards used but in non-compliant way
• Flaws testing tools / procedures
• We thought wed be interoperable, but discovered
  were not
• QA Focuss framework based on documented policies
  and systematic checking of compliance with
  policies may help see ECDL 2004 paper

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A Holistic Framework For E-Learning Accessibility

• TechDis UKOLN have developed a model (to be
  published in CJLT) for e-learning accessibility
  which recognises
• External pressures e.g. funders, auditors,
• Local technical infrastructure issues
• Wider technical developments
• Learning teaching issues
• Usability accessibility issues
• and focusing on the users needs

Remember legislation expects organisations to
take "reasonable measures"
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Framework For Interoperability

• Mandating open standards to ensure
  interoperability is probably a flawed approach
• Should we be developing a matrix approach which
  recognises various factors
• The standards (maturity,ease of use, )
• Resource issues (costs,staffing, expertise, )
• Infrastructural factors
• Cultural issues (expertise,preferences, willing
  to innovate, )

Culture
Standards
User
Resources
Note this idea is at an early stage
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Questions