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| Title: | "Successful Clicker Standardization" |
| Author: | Jim Tweeten M.K. Smith Jim Julius Linda Murphy-Boyer |
| Publication Date: | November 4 2007 |
| Date Added: | May 16 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | Standardizing on a single clicker system enhances pedagogical support while reducing logistical support issues and student costs. This article examines some of the the issues related to student response systems standardization at four higher learning institutions. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Ratcheting Labor Standards:How Open Competition Can Save Ethical Sourcing" |
| Author: | Archon Fung Dara O'Rourke Charles Sabel |
| Publication Date: | March 1 2000 |
| Date Added: | May 16 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | The transformations of the global economy that deliver higher quality and cheaper products can also lead to unacceptable conditions of work: exploitation of child labor, dangerous environments, punishing hours, starvation wages, discrimination, and suppression of workers’ rights. Government has been slow to respond. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have reacted more quickly, by establishing corporate codes of conduct and auditing protocols to determine whether firms actually comply with those codes. Some multinational corporations have responded to the demands of angry and skeptical publics by volunteering to respect a code of their own or an NGO and sometimes by allowing outsiders to verify compliance. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Open Source Licensing and Scattering Opportunism in Software Standards" |
| Author: | Greg Vetter |
| Publication Date: | March 1 2006 |
| Date Added: | May 16 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | Despite their beneficial influence on interoperability and markets, problems of detrimental opportunism occur with technology standards, including standards implemented in software, which this Article calls “Software Standards.” Inspired by new perspectives on the study of semicommons in the history of real property, this Article con-templates the substitutability of free and open source software (“FOSS”) for traditional standard-setting approaches. Standards are analogous to semicommons, where public and private use interact, raising the possibility of opportunistic influence on the Software Standard to increase private gain at the expense of the public benefit in a more uniform standard. With its source code disclosure requirement, FOSS shifts and dampens this opportunism, although various limits influence the reach of its effect. The political economy around a standard will express itself differently under a FOSS implementation, and clearing intellectual property rights in the standard is no more certain than under the traditional standard-setting approach. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Simulation Interoperability with a Commercial Game Engine" |
| Author: | Mark Ryan Doug Hill Dennis McGrath |
| Publication Date: | October 1 2005 |
| Date Added: | May 16 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | The interest in game engines as platforms for serious simulation has increased dramatically over the past few years. Game engines have made great advances in user interaction and visualization at low cost that have exceeded advances within the simulation community. With few exceptions, though, the early efforts to use entertainment-based games for non-entertainment applications have been focused on creating "serious games." Open standards for distributed simulations like HLA and DIS have been largely ignored by the game community. If games engines are to be genuinely useful to the simulation community, they must be interoperable with existing simulations. The Gamebots interface, originally developed for AI researchers to experiment with game environments, can also be used to facilitate simulation interoperability. We have modified the Gamebots interface to allow external simulations to control the state of internal game objects. The context of our first usage is a mass casualty simulation called Unreal Triage, in which physiological vital signs, such as pulse and respiration, of disaster victims being monitored with wireless physiological sensors are driven by an external biomedical simulation. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "An Open Source Development Approach to Health Information Technology" |
| Author: | Wullianallur Raghupathi Wei Gao |
| Publication Date: | September 1 2006 |
| Date Added: | May 16 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | Health information technology is at a crossroads. The rapid proliferation of different types of applications, including electronic health record systems and clinical decision support systems, is attempting to accommodate an even more rapidly growing need among health care delivery organizations. But the absence of uniform standards and the resultant lack of interoperability have hindered the successful deployment and acceptance of these applications. Open source software and open source development tools, such as Eclipse, have potential to alleviate at least some of these challenges. This paper explores the potential of an open source development approach to health information technology. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Migration to Open-Standard Interorganizational Systems: Network Effects, Switching Costs and Path Dependency" |
| Author: | Kevin Zhu Kenneth Kraemer Vijay Gurbaxani Sean Xu |
| Publication Date: | June 1 2005 |
| Date Added: | May 16 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | This study examines firms’ migration across interorganizational systems (IOS) that are built on standards with relatively different degrees of openness. As firms seek to improve inter-firm coordination using network technologies, open standards are becoming increasingly important. To better understand the process of standards diffusion, we investigate the migration from relatively less open IOS (i.e., electronic data interchange or EDI) to open-standard IOS (i.e., the Internet). Viewing the decision to adopt openstandard IOS in economic terms (benefits vs. costs), we develop a conceptual model of open-standard IOS adoption that features network effects, expected benefits, and adoption costs as prominent antecedents. Theoretical work in economics suggests that network effects are a determinant of network adoption, yet the extant literature falls short of empirical testing of the theory. We examine our conceptual model on a large dataset of 1,394 firms. The empirical results demonstrate that network effects are a significant driver of migration to open-standard IOS. We also find that the effect of adoption costs is different for firms that are migrating from EDI (significantly negative) and firms that are not (no effect). While this finding may sound counter-intuitive, it illustrates the subtle role of path dependency in standards migration. Experience with older standards may keep the firm “trapped” and make it difficult to shift to open and potentially better standards. Our work also teases out finer-grained relationships such as the positive impact of trading community on the strength of network effects, and the importance of managerial complexity as a key determinant of adoption costs. Relative to the extant literature, this paper focuses on adoption of an open-standard network with broader impacts on value chain activities (compared to EDI networks), and with a wider scope of partner efforts involved in establishing network effects (compared to systems such as automated teller machine networks). Overall we believe that this study, based on a rigorous empirical analysis of a unique international dataset, provides valuable insights into a set of key factors that influence standards diffusion. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Standing up for Open Source" |
| Author: | Lee David Jaffe Greg Careaga |
| Publication Date: | June 1 2007 |
| Date Added: | May 16 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | It is time for librarians to stand up for open source. Based upon shared values of openness and accessibility, the library world has common cause with the open source community. Further, open source solutions offer many functional and practical advantages, including potential answers to some of the issues currently frustrating libraries. However, libraries have thus far adopted open source solutions at a rate far below other sectors and, notably, have not made a commitment to development of open source integrated library systems (ILS). |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "China Standard Time: A Study in Strategic Industrial Policy" |
| Author: | Greg Linden |
| Publication Date: | March 1 2004 |
| Date Added: | May 16 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | China’s industrial policy for high-technology industries combines key features of the policies pursued elsewhere in East Asia such as opening to foreign investors and supporting domestic firms. Leveraging its large market size, China has gone further than other developing countries by promoting standards for products that compete in China with products controlled by major electronics companies. This paper analyzes the experience to date of this Chinese policy in the consumer optical storage industry in the context of China’s evolving national innovation system. China’s standard-setting policy is politicized but ultimately pragmatic, which avoids imposing excessive costs on the economy. It may also have dynamic learning benefits for Chinese firms who are starting to compete in global markets. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Application Response MeasurementIssue 3.0 – Java Binding" |
| Author: | The Open Group |
| Publication Date: | March 1 2001 |
| Date Added: | May 16 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | It is hard to imagine conducting business around the globe without computer systems, networks, and software. People distribute and search for information, communicate with each other, and transact business. Computers are increasingly faster, smaller, and less expensive. Networks are increasingly faster, have more capacity, and more reliable. Software has evolved to better exploit the technological advances and to meet demanding new requirements. The IT infrastructure has become more complex. We have become more dependent on the business applications built on this infrastructure because they offer more services and improved productivity. ARM is a standard for measuring service levels of singlesystem and distributed applications. ARM measures the availability and performance of transactions (any units of work), both those visible to the users of the business application and those visible only within the IT infrastructure, such as client/server requests to a data server. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Goal v. Technical Standards" |
| Author: | Knud E. Hermansen |
| Publication Date: | January 1 2000 |
| Date Added: | May 16 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | Many surveying State licensing boards and professional organizations have grappled with establishing standards for professional practice. While practitioners can be frequently heard to argue or discuss the complexity and scope of standards, there is little discussion concerning the form the standards should take. In particular, the parties have failed to address at the outset whether the standards should be goal or technically oriented. |
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| Title: | "A New Technonationalism? China and the Development ofTechnical Standards" |
| Author: | Richard P. Suttmeier |
| Publication Date: | April 2 2005 |
| Date Added: | May 15 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | Chinese technology executives, government officials, and members of its research community are debating how far to push the country’s strategy for promoting technology standards at home and abroad. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Standardisation of the Management of Intellectual Property Rightsin Multimedia Content" |
| Author: | Jamie Delgado Isabel Gallego |
| Publication Date: | March 1 2002 |
| Date Added: | May 15 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) management is a key issue for the deployment of real e-commerce and multimedia content distribution on the Web. Music market knows very well this problem, and very different approaches are being considered to cope with the issue. One valid approach to solve the problem is to develop standards allowing interoperability of solutions, a relevant problem nowadays. MPEG is one of the international standardisation initiatives that is trying to go along this way. In particular, the new MPEG-21 standard is proposing that the standardisation of a digital rights expression language and a rights data dictionary would help to improve systems and applications interoperability. The main objective of the paper is to present our approach to this issue, that goes one step forward than MPEG, since we are developing a semantic approach to represent and manage IPR. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Modelling Geometrical Tolerances with IntervalsUsing ISO-Standard STEP" |
| Author: | Eva Dyllong Wolfram Luther Holger Traczinski |
| Publication Date: | March 1 2001 |
| Date Added: | May 15 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | A development of complex mechatronic systems requires a multitude of de- centralised designing and processing systems. The various software and file for- mats which are involved in the development process need a quick and smooth data exchange via standardised data models and interfaces. The ISO 10303 norm STEP (STandard for the Exchange of Product model data) has been developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) within the Technical Committee 184 “Industrial Automation System & Integration”. STEP provides a basic approach for an unambiguous representation of computer interpretable product information throughout the whole life-cycle of a product. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Internet Marketing Standards: Institutional Coherence Issues" |
| Author: | Patricia Ryan |
| Publication Date: | March 1 2004 |
| Date Added: | May 15 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | This paper reflects upon the mosaic of institutional issues associated with gaining credibility for internet marketing standards. Strong claims for a predominantly self-regulatory approach are reviewed in conjunction with other factors that inhibit credibility, namely: competing internet worldviews, weak moral coherency and offline ambiguity about respective institutional roles, especially as regards moral dimensions of notions of regulation and self-regulation. The nature of the internet does not alleviate or weaken the need for either formal regulation or ethical responsibility. Rather, enhanced institutional coherence between regulatory and non-regulatory systems is needed to ground credibility in internet marketing standards. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Vertical Industry Information Technology Standards and Standardization" |
| Author: | Rolf T. Wigand M. Lynne Markus Charles W. Steinfield |
| Publication Date: | June 1 2005 |
| Date Added: | May 15 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | Standardized business documents, data definitions, item description and identification, and business processes have been seen as key to effective interorganizational commerce since the 1980s, when electronic data interchange (EDI) became the technology of choice for business-to-business coordination. Vertical information systems (VIS) standards are designed to promote communication and coordination among the organizations comprising a particular industry sector. Unfortunately, despite much promotion, EDI standards achieved only limited adoption; an estimated 2% of the world’s businesses, including just 300,000 US companies have adopted EDI. Low penetration of electronic interconnection standards, particularly around business semantics, is believed to hinder electronic business and supply-chain integration. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "An Open Standard Software Library for High-Performance Parallel Signal Processing: the Parallel VSIPL++ Library" |
| Author: | James Lebak Jeremy Kepner Henry Hoffmann Edward Rutledge |
| Publication Date: | April 15 2004 |
| Date Added: | May 9 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | Real-time signal processing consumes the majority of the world’s computing power. Increasingly, programmable parallel processors are used to address a wide variety of signal processing applications (e.g. scientific, video, wireless, medical, communication, encoding, radar, sonar and imaging). In programmable systems the major challenge is no longer hardware but software. Specifically, the key technical hurdle lies in allowing the user to write programs at high level, while still achieving performance and preserving the portability of the code across parallel computing hardware platforms. The Parallel Vector, Signal, and Image Processing Library (Parallel VSIPL++) addresses this hurdle by providing high level C++ array constructs, a simple mechanism for mapping data and functions onto parallel hardware, and a community-defined portable interface. This paper presents an overview of the Parallel VSIPL++ standard as well as a deeper description of the technical foundations and expected performance of the library. Parallel VSIPL++ supports adaptive optimization at many levels. The C++ arrays are designed to support automatic hardware specialization by the compiler. The computation objects (e.g. Fast Fourier Transforms) are built with explicit setup and run stages to allow for run-time optimization. Parallel arrays and functions in VSIPL++ support these same features, which are used to accelerate communication operations. The parallel mapping mechanism provides an external interface that allows optimal mappings to be generated off-line and read into the system at run-time. Finally, the standard has been developed in collaboration with high performance embedded computing vendors and is compatible with their proprietary approaches to achieving performance. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Legal Issues for the Use of Free and Open Source Software in Government" |
| Author: | Nic Suzor Brian Fitzgerald Graham Bassett |
| Publication Date: | December 30 2003 |
| Date Added: | May 9 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | Software licensing has two approaches - proprietarial and non-proprietarial. Proprietary methods involve employing a team of programmers and tying them to a non-disclosure agreement. Cloistered for a period of time, they create, test and debug their code. Most importantly, copyright is claimed over the resulting code. Software is marketed as a copyright license and defined as “any product we make available for license for a fee”. Bill Gates has made it clear that code is zealously guarded and presented in executable form only: “…a competitor who is free to review Microsoft’s source code … will see the architecture, data structures, algorithms and other key aspects of the relevant Microsoft product. That will make it much easier to copy Microsoft’s innovations, which is why commercial software vendors generally do not provide source code to rivals”. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Open Source Programming as a Framework for Scientific Collaboration:An Example in the Context of Land-use Change Modeling" |
| Author: | Charles M. Schweik |
| Publication Date: | March 30 2004 |
| Date Added: | May 9 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | Traditional approaches to the communication and validation of scientific research (e.g., peer-review) and the communication of findings (e.g., refereed publication) have been in place in some form since shortly after the development of the printing press in the sixteenth century (Ziman, 1969; Johns, 2001). This process of peer-review as a mechanism to check for credible information (Burnham, 1990; Kronick, 1990) and journal publication has led to incredible progress in humanity’s scientific knowledge over the last four centuries. It also provides an example of how advances in technology (the printing press coupled with systems for the delivery of mail) can change the speed in which scientific knowledge can build. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Open Source and Open Content: a Framework for Global Collaboration in Social-Ecological Research" |
| Author: | Charles Schweik Tom Evans J. Morgan Grove |
| Publication Date: | March 25 2005 |
| Date Added: | May 9 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses opportunities for alternative collaborative approaches for social-ecological research in general and, in this context, for modeling land-use/land-cover change. In this field, the rate of progress in academic research is steady but perhaps not as rapid or efficient as might be possible with alternative organizational frameworks. The convergence of four phenomena provides new opportunities for cross-organizational collaboration: (1) collaborative principles related to "open source" (OS) software development, (2) the emerging area of "open content" (OC) licensing, (3) the World Wide Web as a platform for scientific communication, and (4) the traditional concept of peer review. Although private individuals, government organizations, and even companies have shown interest in the OS paradigm as an alternative model for software development, it is less commonly recognized that this collaborative framework is a potential innovation of much greater proportions. In fact, it can guide the collective development of any intellectual content, not just software. This paper has two purposes. First, we describe OS and OC licensing, dispense with some myths about OS, and relate these structures to traditional scientific process. Second, we outline how these ideas can be applied in an area of collaborative research relevant to the study of social-ecological systems. It is important to recognize that the concept of OS is not new, but the idea of borrowing OS principles and using OC licensing for broader scientific collaboration is new. Over the last year, we have been trying to initiate such an OS/OC collaboration in the context of modeling land use and land cover. In doing so, we have identified some key issues that need to be considered, including project initiation, incentives of project participants, collaborative infrastructure, institutional design and governance, and project finance. OS/OC licensing is not a universal solution suitable for all projects, but the framework presented here does present tangible advantages over traditional methods of academic research. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Migration to Open-Standard Interorganizational Systems:Network Effects, Switching Costs, and Path Dependency" |
| Author: | Kevin Zhu Kenneth L. Kraemer Vijay Gurbaxani Sean Xu |
| Publication Date: | June 1 2005 |
| Date Added: | May 9 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | The phenomenon of interest in this study is organizational migration across interorganizational systems (IOS) that are built on standards with relatively different degrees of openness. As firms increasingly seek to improve inter-firm coordination through the use of network technologies, open standards are becoming increasingly important. To better understand the process of standards diffusion, this study investigates the migration to open-standard IOS (i.e., the Internet) from relatively less open IOS (i.e., electronic data interchange or EDI). Viewing the decision to adopt open-standard IOS in terms of its benefits and costs, we develop a model of open-standard IOS adoption that features network effects, expected benefits, and adoption costs as prominent antecedents. We test this model and associated hypotheses using structural equation modeling on a large international dataset of 1,394 firms. The empirical results demonstrate that network effects are a significant driver of migration to open-standard IOS. We also find a differential effect of adoption costs between those firms that were migrating from EDI (significantly negative) and those firms that were not (no effect). While this finding may sound counter-intuitive, it illustrates the subtle role of path dependency in standards migration. Experience with older standards may keep the firm “trapped” and make it difficult to shift to open and potentially better standards. Our work also teases out finer-grained relationships such as the positive impact of trading community influence on the strength of network effects, and the importance of managerial complexity as a key determinant of adoption costs. Relative to the literature, this work focuses on an open-standard network with broader impacts on a firm’s value chain activities (compared to EDI networks), and examines a wider scope of partner efforts involved in establishing network effects (compared to automated teller machine networks). Overall we believe that this study, based on a rigorous empirical analysis of a large international dataset, provides valuable insights into how network effects influence standards diffusion. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Shanghai Advances the Cause of Open Government Information in China" |
| Author: | Jamie P. Horsley |
| Publication Date: | April 15 2004 |
| Date Added: | May 9 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | While the Chinese State Council mulls over a draft of China’s first freedom of information legislation, the bustling metropolis of Shanghai, home to some 16 million people, adopted China’s first provincial-level open information legislation on January 20, 2004. The Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on Open Government Information (the Shanghai Provisions) represent the most comprehensive framework to date in China for accessing government-held information, containing more detail than the pioneering Guangzhou Municipal Open Government Information Provisions adopted in 20031 and other lower-level local Chinese legislation to date.2 The Shanghai Provisions are scheduled to go into effect May 1, the same day that Shanghai will launch its “Transparent Government Program.” |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Open Source Software Licensing" |
| Author: | Steve Lee |
| Publication Date: | April 28 1999 |
| Date Added: | May 9 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that open source licenses – whether they are lenient, like the BSD and the Artistic licenses, or they are strict, like the GNU GPL and the NPL/MozPL – are legally enforceable. This paper also discusses how the open source movement has cultural norms and qualitative advantages that make the open source development model viable, with or without the law. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project" |
| Author: | Karl Fogel |
| Publication Date: | April 2 2005 |
| Date Added: | May 9 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | Most free software projects fail. We tend not to hear very much about the failures. Only successful projects attract attention, and there are so many free software projects in total that even though only a small percentage succeed, the result is still a lot of visible projects. We also don't hear about the failures because failure is not an event. There is no single moment when a project ceases to be viable; people just sort of drift away and stop working on it. There may be a moment when a final change is made to the project, but those who made it usually didn't know at the time that it was the last one. There is not even a clear definition of when a project is expired. Is it when it hasn't been actively worked on for six months? When its user base stops growing, without having exceeded the developer base? What if the developers of one project abandon it because they realized they were duplicating the work of another—and what if they join that other project, then expand it to include much of their earlier effort? Did the first project end, or just change homes? |
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| Title: | "How open source software works: “free” user-to-user assistance" |
| Author: | Karim R. Lakhani Eric von Hippel |
| Publication Date: | July 12 2002 |
| Date Added: | May 9 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | Research into free and open source software development projects has so far largely focused on how the major tasks of software development are organized and motivated. But a complete project requires the execution of “mundane but necessary” tasks as well. In this paper, we explore how the mundane but necessary task of field support is organized in the case of Apache web server software, and why some project participants are motivated to provide this service gratis to others.We find that the Apache field support system functions effectively. We also find that, when we partition the help system into its component tasks, 98% of the effort expended by information providers in fact returns direct learning benefits to those providers. This finding considerably reduces the puzzle of why information providers are willing to perform this task “for free.” Implications are discussed. |
| Link: | Full Text |
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| Title: | "Open Source Versus Open Standards:Contrasting Concepts and the ‘Interop’ Impact" |
| Author: | Microsoft Corporation |
| Publication Date: | January 15 2003 |
| Date Added: | May 8 2008 |
| Free/Fee: | Free |
| Abstract: | A great deal of confusion, both within the software industry and among consumers of software, surrounds the terms “open source” and “open standards,” and the concepts, policies and licensing implications these terms represent. At the outset, there is disagreement as to the meanings of the terms themselves. This problem is compounded by liberal use and widespread misuse, both unwitting and deliberate, that cloud the conceptual framework and frustrate efforts to formalize the vocabulary. With the terminology so difficult to pin down, it has become all too common to find the label “open source” improperly linked to, or confused with, the very different notion of “open standards.” |
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