IT Standards: An Effective Protocol for Governments and Regulators

1. IT Standards: An Effective Protocol for Governments and Regulators BIS Standards Seminar Taj Mahal Hotel New Delhi February 21st 2007 Michael Mudd Director for Public Policy, Asia - Pacific CompTIA

2. Who Is CompTIA • What eGovernment needs to succeed • What the ICT Industry does for standards • Choosing standards for effective eGovernment • 3 principles for IPR, Trade and Growth • A roadmap forward • Some conclusions

3. Who is CompTIA A community of communities… • Inclusive • Members from major industry markets, representing all in the IT industry; Hardware; Software; Telecommunications; IT Services • Established in 1982 with just four member companies, CompTIA now has more than 20,000 members in 102 countries • Corporations and Not-for-profit organizations/ Schools, Community Colleges and Universities/government partnerships • 85% are small to medium enterprises (SME’s) • Effective • Industry driven through members ‘cornerstone’ process • CompTIA advances the interests of the IT industry through public policy initiatives by actively engaging government policy makers • Global • Worlds largest vendor-neutral provider of open IT training certifications • Successful track record of collaboration and facilitation of global standards • 14 offices on six continents - including in Asia since 1999

4. Who is CompTIA CompTIA has members from the entire spectrum of the IT industry including; Hardware; Software; Telecommunications; IT Services Cisco Lenovo Earthweb Eastman Kodak Entrust Inc ePresence Exide Electronics Group FileNet Fujitsu Computer GE Information Global Knowledge Network Guru Labs gtslearning Hewlett-Packard Co. iGeneration Imaging 501 IMNET Systems InaCom Corp. Information Technology (ITMI) Ingram Micro Inc. Intel Kofax Imaging Products Lava Systems Learning Centers, Inc. Lenovo RSA Microsoft Motorola New Horizons Novell NTT Data Odyssey Development Optical Laser Optika Imaging Systems PaperClip Software ProsoftTraining.com RSA Security Ricoh Corp. SmartForce Sun Microsystems Sybex, Inc. TAC Tandy/Radio Shack TechData Corp. Technology Service Toshiba America US West Wave Technologies VeriSign Xerox Corporation @doc 3Com Access Graphics Adaptec Course Technology Apple Inc Autodesk AT&T Internet Services Bell & Howell Bluebird Systems Canon, USA Cisco Comark CompuCom Systems Inc. CompUSA ComputerWorld Cornerstone Imaging Cprod CSK Data Train Institute Diamond Head Software Document Technologies HP Verisign Toshiba Microsoft Fujitsu Intel Motorola

5. TorontoCanada LondonUK TokyoJapan SydneyAustralia Where is CompTIA Düsseldorf Germany Dubai/ Middle East Brussels EU BeijingChina Washington DC USA Chicago, HQ USA New DelhiIndia CompTIA’s International Offices; - Membership - Policy Hong Kong China Sao Paulo Brazil JohannesburgSouth Africa

6. Pre ‘BI’ - Post ‘AI’ • Silo Age is ‘BI’ - Before the Internet • The Morse telegraph and then Bell phone system – 1st interoperable ICT systems • Commercially developed – openly available • Open Age is ‘AI’ - After the Internet • eGovernment is an ‘AI’ challenge • Commercial IT companies totally aligned with connectivity viainteroperability – core to eGov success in the post silo world

7. Citizens want eGov on their terms • 24 x 7 • Any device – mobile or fixed • Any software • Minimal training + ease of use • Minimal or no cost ( Citizens are after all paying for government already!) • Security • Speed • Egov must adopt standards that will facilitate the above

8. Industry Specifications are everywhere… • Industry actively creating IT standards since Morse 1844 • ITU came out of Nations needs for a standard telegraph protocol • Created groups such as IEEE, ETSI, ECMA as well as ANSI • EIDX (Electronics Industry Data Exchange,) a part of CompTIA see http://eidx.comptia.org/ for E business interoperability • Banks rely on SWIFT as the secure messaging standard • EDI (EDIFACT/X120) • Over time, specifications may become standards • Industry creates standards that are sustainable • BUT no guarantee of success;- • VHS – Betamax ( done deal!) • Metric vs. Imperial (ongoing!!) • Blue Ray vs. HD-DVD ( just started!) • BUT the IT ecosystem is changed and advanced in each case …Leading to Standards

9. Adoption of a specification to a standard – the innovation process… The Idea > - From Industry or Academia Prototype > - The creative moment (IPR) Beta > - The test of innovation Roll out > - does the market want it? Early adoption > - will the market use it? Critical mass > - The undefined measure of ‘success’ National/International industry consortium > - Critical Peer Review ISO/ITU open standards Org > - International Technical Review GLOBAL STANDARD > - Availability to all on RAND or RF terms …Leading to Interoperability

10. Why does the ICT Industry want (and need) Technology Standards? The ICT industry makes larger and larger contributions to world economies; In 30 years ICT equaled the same employee base as the Auto Industry did in 100 years 28% of manufacturing exports in East Asia are ICT goods Software is embedded now in all ICT products and services Standards enable economies of scale Asian economies are recognizing that ICT is a major value add to their outputs; Japan, Korea and Taiwan are established hardware examples India in software ad services and increasingly , China, Malaysia, Philippines and in the near future, Thailand and Vietnam Governments often represent the largest single investor in software assets- $22.5B global market* Standards enable interoperability; vital for eGovernment to work * IDC Estimate

11. Adoption of standards • A major contributor to interoperability is voluntary open specifications - leading to standards development - plus voluntary open standards adoption • Open specification/standards development - without significant adoption of the resultant standards - does nothing in the effort to achieve interoperability • Standards are dynamic and must evolve to take advantage of technology advances • If the industry is not fully engaged in the standards setting process, standards will suffer, as technology advances are not integrated into the process • This is a global challenge as post Internet IT being digital, knows no borders

12. Technology Neutrality • Not aligned to a country • Not aligned to a company • Core to public acceptance – and use • Adaptable to various business models • Needed to implement eGovernment • Technology Neutrality enables Interoperability • Interoperability of necessity, encompasses both technical specifications and standards including open standards

13. Interoperability defined: The ability of software and hardware on different machines or devices from different vendors to share data… • …Increasingly - anywhere at anytime • … I want my MTV/ My I Pod/ My Cellphone to speak to each other – seamlessly • … I just want it to work! • … interacting electronically with government is the same

14. Alternative models to promote interoperability • Open Standards • Voluntary private sector initiatives, e.g. WS-I, W3C, OASIS • Government specification, e.g. European Interoperability Framework • Private - Public multi stakeholder partnerships • Organic (market driven) Standards • the emergence of a dominant software specification can often induce widespread compatibility – and therefore interoperability - more forcefully than standards developed through cooperative processes, e.g. PDF. • The market will respond - e.g. recent commitment by Microsoft to support Linux via agreements with other companies – Novell to support Open XML in their Linux offering Jan 2007: IBM offering an OSS and proprietary software option – objective; Interoperability • Governments need to choose a combination that will suit their particular needs

15. Choice is Paramount Effective competition is a prerequisite for an effective and diversified IT market. Competition drives producers to be efficient, innovate and provide what consumers want …and will pay for. A policy that discriminates against industry developed standards will, in effect exclude 85 percent of IT channel business activity. Markets, (i.e. Citizens) not government mandates, determine the best technology as they must justify the investment.

16. Choose technology on the basis of sound economic considerations IT procurement by public or large private entities must be based on a systematic and rational decision-making process such as cost-benefit analysis (CBA) Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a sound methodology for evaluating ICT assets investment costs in CBA. TCO is the term used to describe not only the costs of purchasing ICT products and services, but all the ‘hidden costs’ associated with using ICT as well, including planning, design, installation, configuration, maintenance and support. Citizens will also make a decision based on ease of use of eGov services - and relative utility- as well as cost Standards and specifications therefore must satisfy the needs of all users – government and citizens to enable eGov to take off

17. Role of Intellectual Property IPR’s are the asset in the trading of information technology in the knowledge economy Intellectual property rights (IPRs) exist to promote innovation and creativity; Patents for example make transparent the technology that enables interoperability between competitive technologies The act of creation has a cost (e.g. R&D expenditure to invent.) The owner may choose to give it away (RF) or licence (RAND) in fact most RF apps do have conditions e.g. GPL for OSS The limited and temporary monopoly (ownership) over creation allows the owner to recoup the cost of creation. The commercial software industry (both large and small companies) continues to generate the largest number of patents of any industry globally* Recent Examples – think of Skype, IPod/ITunes Some examples of industry developed IT standards ; MP3,HTML,802.11, XML,SMTP, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, CDMA, UMTS – some choose patents and make them available on a RAND basis or on an RF basis – its their choice, but to enable take up, they have to share IP. *Technology Review Patent Scorecard

18. Twenty-five companies, including Sun Microsystems, • BEA Systems, CA XenSource and Novell, • Advanced Micro Devices, Microsoft, Business Objects, • Citrix Systems, NEC Corporation of America, • Network Appliance, Quest Software have agreed • to join the Interop Vendor Alliance • Objective; to ensure different vendors products will work • together Standards are important, but standards alone don't make things interoperable: The Interop Vendor Alliance

19. eGov adoption - three objectives • Technology Neutrality – maintains choice – lowers prices • Encompass Industry Standards – enables Interoperability and consumer acceptance • Foster Strong Intellectual Property Protection – enables sustainable development to create lasting value A Model Public Policy Framework based on these three objectives would have as principles…

20. Principle 1: Technology Neutrality • Avoid policies that would mandate or prefer specific technology solutions, standards implementations, platforms or business models. • Ensure that government policies aimed at promoting interoperability remain objective and performance-based. • Procurement acquisitions should incorporate objective and measurable criteria

21. Principle 2: Industry Driven Standards • Allow industry to lead in promoting interoperability including developing voluntary, industry-driven, consensus-based standards. • Ensure that government interoperability programs are based on a clear set of publicly accessible technical standards. • Provide a legal framework and regulatory framework that supports an industry-driven open standards process. Where government is the representative to a standards setting body, ensure there is a strong consultative process in place open to all potential industry participants. • Let the market work in the standards setting process.

22. Principle 3: Foster Strong Intellectual Property Protection • Support the role of intellectual property both in promoting and developing technology, and in promoting interoperability. • Avoid policies that impose compulsory licensing requirements in procurement practices. • Respect IPR and encourage this as a tool for innovation. • IPR will enable SME’s to create their own sustainable revenue streams by licensing/cross licensing or sales • Leading to creation of value – think Skype and MP3

23. In Conclusion : Some thoughts… • Governments exist to serve their citizens • For eGov to work economies must give their citizens choices • Citizens will choose their technology based on ease of use and relative utility for their needs, as well as cost. • Government needs to use technology that can connect with its citizens for eGovt inclusion - including mobile and disabled citizens access • Interoperability is paramount • So governments, the private sector and civil society should be able to choose their technology from multiple sources on terms that suit them: the market will respond with products • Policies that give the widest possible choice best serve both citizens and industry - enhancing the development of both the local economy and exports, all the time lowering prices - and reducing the digital divide

24. In Conclusion / 2 • To enable the uptake of eGov initiatives and to encompass an innovative knowledge society, Technology Neutral standards including open and commercially developed standards are vital • These standards lead to Interoperabilitybetween devices • Policies that limit the available market for ICT solutions subvert sound internationally recognized economic, trade and IPR principles. • The ICT Industry commits millions of $$ annually and thousands of employees towards technical specifications and standards development • CompTIA has commissioned a white paper on ‘A Model Public Policy Interoperability Framework’ that examines standards as part of the goal of interoperability see www.softwarechoice.com

25. Thank You ! For further information and a copy of our white paper please contact Michael Mudd Director, Public Policy, Asia - Pacific CompTIA 222. Shui On Centre 2/f 6- 8 Harbour Road, Hong Kong SAR China mmudd@comptia.org www.comptia.org www.softwarechoice.org