Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Development
    • Networking
    • Servers

    Open Web Foundation to Keep Data ‘Open’

    By
    Darryl K. Taft
    -
    July 25, 2008
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      PORTLAND, Ore. — A coalition of individuals and corporate backers are creating the Open Web Foundation, an attempt to create a home for community-driven specifications following the open-source model similar to the Apache Software Foundation.

      The group was announced July 24 here at the O’Reilly Open Source Convention.

      Geir Magnusson, an ASF director, who was among the group that helped set the organization in motion, said the Open Web Foundation will be a success if it can take the concept of the Apache Software Foundation’s incubator and help to enable open-source communities to deal with legal issues and intellectual property concerns.

      “However, we don’t want it to be another standards body,” Magnusson said.

      At OSCON, David Recordon, an engineer at Six Apart, announced the formation of the Open Web Foundation, identifying it as “a non-profit where communities can come and work together.”

      According to the Open Web Foundation Web site:

      ““The foundation is trying to break the trend of creating separate foundations for each specification, coming out of the realization that we could come together and generalize our efforts. The details regarding membership, governance, sponsorship and intellectual property rights will be posted for public review and feedback in the following weeks.”“

      Recordon said the group doesn’t “want to create another organization; we’re trying to take the spirit of open source, of going and pulling together an ecosystem of the things that have come before us.”

      He said the group would focus on four things: incubation, licensing, copyright and community.

      In a blog post about the Open Web Foundation entitled “The Open Web Foundation: Apache for the other stuff,” Dion Almaer, co-founder of Ajaxian.com and an engineer at Google, said:

      ““Apache is great for code, but it doesn’t deal with the other stuff, which is fine. That isn’t its mandate. Apache does things very well, though, especially when it comes to governance and the incubator process. What if we had a foundation that had some of the same values around people participating (so anyone can, versus companies) and a varied community (not just a few blokes from the same company)? This is why I am hopeful for the Open Web Foundation. It is a new place to look at if you come up with something helpful for the Open Web, a place that may match your values.”“

      Recordon said the “conversation is shifting from just open source to data” and with many environments moving into the cloud, data becomes even more important. “The open Web needs data…and open data needs open standards,” he said.

      Tim O’Reilly, CEO of O’Reilly Media, which runs OSCON, said his concern is about data and how control over data can be its own form of lock-in and control.

      Meanwhile, also in a blog post, Chris Saad, co-director of the DataPortability project, said:

      “It seems like the foundation is well placed to provide a much-needed level of oversight and legal protection for fledgling open standards. These standards will ultimately contribute to the -data portability’ vision of an inter-operable, standards-based Web of data. In our investigations of the various standards, this has been a key concern for us and we feel encouraged people are stepping up to remove this potential roadblock. There is enormous value in getting more people involved in working towards a vision we all share, and for that reason I am genuinely excited by this development.”

      Although the Open Web Foundation is made up of individuals, it has corporate sponsorship from companies such as the BBC, Facebook, Google, MySpace, O’Reilly Media, Plaxo, Six Apart, Sourceforge, Vidoop and Yahoo.

      Danese Cooper, senior director of open-source strategies at Intel and a founding member of the Open Web Forum, said one of her roles was to call on large companies to inform them about the effort.

      “The big companies freaked out,” Cooper said. “They didn’t want to see it just happen – they wanted to think about it awhile – but you have to just act.”

      Darryl K. Taft
      Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×