Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society Outlines Roadmap for Future Innovation: Open Standards Drive Efficiency, Growth and Innovation

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 9 -- Today, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School will release “The Roadmap for Open Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Ecosystems.” This Roadmap was produced by a collaboration of public, private, and non-governmental experts from every region of the world. The Roadmap demonstrates how to build our technological environment to foster interoperability and growth.

From the report: Technology’s transformative power has always been a source of great expectation and challenge. Today, globalization, fueled by information and communication technologies (ICT), is rapidly changing every society. Our drive towards globalization creates a new set of unique demands on government, business, and our everyday lives. Increasingly, decision makers in all fields are looking to technology to provide solutions and drive desired changes by commingling local, national and global resources in innovative ways.

Our open standards Roadmap gives direction to individuals, businesses and governments seeking constructive participation in our future global information environment. Our Roadmap evaluates open standards as a framework for global design. “It makes pragmatic policy recommendations for governments, businesses, and individuals,” said Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson, founder of the Berkman Center. “This is a groundbreaking piece of collaboration by an international team. It will help clarify public issues relating to the structure of the Net and lead, we hope, to action.”

From the report: For many governments, open ICT ecosystems are becoming a key element of their economic development strategy. By establishing a common language for businesses, open standards increase growth, innovation, and international trade. According to a recent study by the United Kingdom’s Department of Trade and Industry, standards contribute 2.5 billion annual to the national economy. They have also produced 13 percent growth in labor productivity.

The report’s findings are expanded upon in case studies provided by senior government officials from thirteen nations who worked with industry and non-government leaders.

“Our international epolicy team brought this discussion to the level of end users everywhere. Corporations, governments and consumers are moving to open standards out of a financial need to deal with the complexities of modern ICT systems. Interoperability is good business -- economic necessity is driving people toward rational choices. All parties can benefit - in various ways - from more open ICT ecosystems.”

Report Release Event Location and Time: The World Bank will host the discussion from 9-11am in Room I 1-200 of the World Bank’s I Building, which is located at 1850 I Street in Washington, DC.

For a copy of the complete report, visit: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/epolicy/roadmap.pdf

Members of the Open ePolicy Group contributing to the report include Jeffrey A. Kaplan, representatives of IBM Corporation and Oracle, as well as non-governmental experts from around the world. A full list of contributors is available in the report.

About the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University: The Berkman Center is a research program founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development. Berkman Center represents a network of faculty, students, fellows, entrepreneurs, lawyers, and virtual architects working to identify and engage with the challenges and opportunities of cyberspace. Berkman Center also supports the traditional Harvard Law School curriculum, often in conjunction with other Harvard schools and MIT.

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Harvard Law School

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