Dynamic Coalition on Open Standards (DCOS)
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Dynamic Coalition on Open Standards (DCOS) formed to promote the use and adoption of open standards in information and communication technologies.
DCOS includes members from government, business, and civil society who are concerned about the role that open and non-proprietary technical standards play in advancing the Internet as a tool of development, innovation, and freedom.
DCOS grew out of a workshop at the 2006 IGF meeting in Athens, Greece, called “Open Standards, Interoperability, and Government Procurement” (videos of workshop).
DCOS maintains a coalition website at www.igf-dcos.org and an open mailing list and a wiki for public contribution.
The IGF Dynamic Coalition on Open Standards (IGF DCOS) will frame and define the most urgent problems related to open technology standards and application interoperability and suggest straightforward, workable solutions that can be implemented by all stakeholders. In support of Paragraph 90j of the Tunis Agenda, which reaffirms the commitment of all WSIS stakeholders to “developing and implementing e-government applications based on open standards in order to enhance the growth and interoperability of e-government systems, at all levels, furthering access to government information …. thereby furthering access to government information and services and contributing to building ICT networks and developing services that are available anywhere and anytime, to anyone and on any device,” IGF DCOS will focus on best practices in government policy and procurement practices for public documents and services.
IGF DCOS will pay particular attention to the needs of developing economies, including capacity building, technology transfer, access and other requirements.
DCOS held it its first offline meeting in February 2007 during the International Symposium on Open Standards hosted by Yale Law School’s Information Society Program.
2006 IGF Contribution: “A Positive Role for Government Procurement in Promoting Open IT Standards, the Network Effect and the Information Society”
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) also maintains a webpage of resources on open standards and DCOS.
Below: Video of Laura DeNardis, Visiting Fellow in the Information Society Project at Yale Law School explores the ability of Open Standards to promote the public interest at the UN Internet Governance Forum in Athens Greece during the Open Standards Workshop (videos of workshop):