JDF adds a path for formal international standardisation

ISO and IEC are organisations that develop and promote international standards that touch almost all aspects of daily life. ISO and IEC joined together to create ISO/IEC JTC 1, which is the international group dedicated to developing worldwide Information and Technology (ICT) standards.

JTC 1 has been responsible for many important IT standards - including video compression technology and programming languages, among many others. PAS submitters like JDF play an important role establishing international standards by submitting their specifications to JTC 1 for a vote to adopt them as ISO/IEC JTC 1 international standards. The Linux Foundation, home to JDF, is experienced in this process, having previously submitted the Linux Standard Base for adoption as ISO/IEC 23360-1:2006.  

The JDF’s first PAS submission is for OpenChain, a specification that identifies the key requirements of an open source compliance program. It is designed to build trust between companies in the supply chain while reducing internal resource costs. The outcome is increased trust and consistency in open source software across the supply chain. International standardisation will help to guide the evolution of the OpenChain Specification from de facto to de jure standard, a process that will assist procurement, sales, and other departments to increasingly engage with OpenChain-related activities.

“Open source is now a mainstream means of building infrastructure and providing a platform for innovation. While open source development models focus on lowering the barriers to innovate and change, there comes a time when industries decide the next step is to agree on one approach to an issue and work together on that solution,” said Seth Newberry, Executive Director at Joint Development Foundation.

“These de facto standards are just one step away from becoming recognised standards, and JDF provides a path to international recognition as a standard by ISO/IEC JTC 1. This is a key additional capability to further support our open project communities with a path to engage on standards with the worldwide business and industry ecosystems.”

To become a JTC 1 PAS Submitter, the Joint Development Foundation had to meet a rigorous set of criteria. It was required to demonstrate its process for developing the specifications that are neutral to all of the contributors (no one company may dominate the process); the specification must be developed with sufficient industry participation to ensure that the resulting work is representative of an industry-wide consensus, and the specification must be formed in accordance with standard PAS editing standards so that each specification is easily understood by the readers.