IBM's New IT Standards Policy: ISO Is Not Exclusive

The new IBM standards are effective immediately, according to a recent press release. Big Blue states that its membership in the standards bodies is essentially on trial and that it will take "necessary actions." The company emphasizes the importance of open standards and characterizes them as vital for open development and worldwide trade. The press release contains five tenets for the new policy. Attentive observers of the controversy around ISO certification of Microsoft's OOXML data format should not have a hard time making the necessary inferences: the first tenet basically declares that their participation in standards bodies is questionable "based on the quality and openness of their processes, membership rules, and intellectual property policies." ISO certification of OOXML ended up in a heated battle among international delegates, with many voting against. Among the sharpest critics was IBM delegate Rob Weir, who railed against the process in his blog.

IBM’s second policy tenet encourages developing countries "to both adopt open global standards and to participate" in their creation. The ISO delegates from Brazil, India, South Africa and Venezuela had petitioned against ISO's decision and in favor of the OOXML standard. After rejection by the ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), delegates voiced concern that the appeal would have been different coming from the industrialized nations. Ideas also circulated about forming independent standards bodies outside ISO or IEC. A thinly veiled broadside came from another of IBM's tenets on how standards should be set: to "advance governance rules within standards bodies that ensure technology decisions, votes, and dispute resolutions are made fairly by independent participants, protected from undue influence."

IBM further addressed intellectual property rights and promised to set a good example: "IBM's new standards policy promotes simplified and consistent intellectual property practices, and emphasizes that all stakeholders, including the open source community and those in growth markets, should have equal footing as they participate in the standards process."

The company states that their principles were inspired by six weeks of open discussion in the spring of 2008. In May and June, IBM invited 70 "independent, forward-thinking experts" from academia, government, industry, public policy, and standard-setting bodies to engage in a wiki forum discussion about whether the standard setting bodies have "kept pace" with today's realities.

In November, IBM plans an invitation-only summit under the auspices of Yale University to "flesh out" recommendations from the debate.