About ConsortiumInfo.orgWhat You can Do to Help -- We hope that those who visit this site will assist us by offering content, comments, news and information that would be of interest to others that use this site. By visiting the Communications Center, you can: * Add us to your press release distribution list * Find out how to link your site to ours, and vice versa * Provide us with information to link to a relevant article or paper that you have written or know about * Get a free consortium news feed to add to your site * Make suggestions (or give critical comments) to help us improve this site Please regard ConsortiumInfo.org as your site, and help us create as dynamic and useful a resource as possible. But whether you decide to be a passive user or an enthusiastic contributor, we hope that ConsortiumInfo.org serves you well.The Future of this Site -- Since this site was launched in 2002, a wide variety of changes have already occurred in the world of commonalities. To identify only a few, in these few years: * Open source consortia have proliferated and become an integral part of the world of technology * The United Nations has begun to concern itself with "Internet Governance" * Standards disputes have become significant events in international trade * Standards policies have become important elements in national and regional strategies * The United States patent system has come under increasing attack for its inability to facilitate, rather than impede, the development and use of standards and open source software We have tried to cover each of these developments in detail, as we will continue to cover tomorrow's issues. We hope that you will visit us often as we do.ConsortiumInfo.orgCIo_7fa8e2b4-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa4... this site is intended to: * Serve as both a comprehensive as well as an in-depth repository of information regarding COs and their work, enabling the uninitiated as well as the serious researcher to learn more about how these organizations operate and what they create * Provide a clearinghouse where those who are actively involved in CO activities can share information regarding recent developments, just released standards and other work product, and the launching of new initiatives * Provide a single point of access where the press, analysts, government and academia can visit to find out what is going on in the world of standards, open source and other commonalities * Provide a neutral forum in which all participants can air ideas, issues and viewpoints, in order to find common causes and seek needed solutions.Gesmer Updegrove LLPGesmer Updegrove LLP, a technology law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. GU is an internationally recognized leader in creating and representing the consortia that create and promote standards and open source software. GU has helped form and represents more such organizations than any other law firm in the U.S. (for a list of the organizations GU has represented see the GU Consortium Client List). To learn how GU can help you form a consortium, optimize your standards strategy, or address intellectual property rights issues, contact: Andrew Updegrove [at andrew.updegrove@gesmer.com]Andrew UpdegroveEditor: Andrew Updegrove, is a co-founder of Gesmer Updegrove LLP and an internationally recognized expert on standard setting and open source organizations and how to form them. He has represented over 70 standard setting, promotional, and advocacy consortia and open source projects. In 2005, he received the President's Award for Journalism for his work at ConsortiumInfo.org and in the Consortium Standards BulletinNathan BurkeWebmaster: Since the initial launch of the site, Nathan BurkeStandards Development OrganizationsConsortia, as well as the formal Standards Development Organizations ("SDOs") that predate them, have an unquestioned place in the creation of valuable technical specifications, standards and reference software. They are also a major source of the verification test suites and compliance testing tools that allow vendors to more cost effectively ensure that their products comply with standards. More recently, thousands of open source software projects, some existing only online, and others with the same types of structure, staffing and budgets as consortia, have been created. These organizations create not standards to facilitate the creation of interoperable software, but the software itself. And today, software is the nervous system that drives almost everything, whether it be a computer, a scientific instrument, a cell phone, a consumer electronics device, or just about anything else we use today. Together, these diverse organizations -- consortia, SDOs and open source projects -- are the source of much of the technical "DNA" that drives the infrastructure upon which our ever-more complex, technology-based modern world relies. That DNA goes beyond mere standards, and in recognition of this fact, we have coined a new word to describe its elements. That word is "commonalities."Commonality OrganizationsConsortiaA consortium is a group of companies that join together to accomplish a specific goal. In the technology industry, they most frequently join together to set standards to enable the development of new infrastructures (e.g., for the Internet and telecommunications), products (e.g., wireless devices and high definition television), and services (SaaS and Web Services). Most consortia also promote these new technologies, in order to educate potential customers and create demand. There are hundreds of consortia in operation today, supporting thousands of standards.Consortia MembersThousands of companies are members of anywhere from a single consortium to scores of such organizations. Members also include government agencies, non-profit research institutions, trade associations, major universities and individuals. Membership in a given consortium can cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to several hundred thousand dollars, depending on how ambitious its goals are.Open Source FoundationsConsortiumInfo.org AudienceThis site is intended for:Standards AdvocatesThose forming or managing organizations that create, promote, or advocate for standards or open source projects. Those participating in such organizations.Open Source Project ManagersStudentsThose studying standards, standard setting and/or open source projectsPolicy makersPolicy makers wanting to know more about standards and/or open source JournalistsJournalists wanting to know more about standards and/or open source, or to follow news in the making in those areasConsumersWe believe that the world of consumers generally, and the technical community in particular, can benefit from having a trusted source of information and a forum for the exchange of ideas involving standards and other commonalities. By providing a common, public forum concerned with the creation, theory, use and significance of commonalities, we hope to encourage the study of these important tools as a discipline.Technical CommunityCommonalitiesMore importantly, a common forum can help standards and other commonalities become better recognized for what it they are -- essential elements in building the increasingly vital technological infrastructure upon which communications, industry and society itself is based. GovernmentWe hope that this site will help government, the press and other arbiters to better appreciate the importance of standards and other commonalities, and to become more likely to include them in their thinking, planning and reporting.The PressArbiters... this site [is] not only the most comprehensive and useful source of news, information, research material and analysis on the Internet on the topics of COs and commonalities, but a robust forum for discussion and action. _7fa8e462-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa4The goal of ConsortiumInfo.org is to be the most comprehensive source of information on the Internet regarding standards, standard setting, and open source software, and on the role that these essential tools play in business and society._7fa8e5fc-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa4CommonalitiesWhat is a "commonality?" As we define it, a commonality is: Whatever tool(s) we need That we need to agree on and create In order to do what we agree needs to be done It is in recognition of the vital role that the organizations that create commonalities play, and in order to facilitate their work, that we have created this site. We refer to these organizations as "Commonality Organizations," or "COs."Standards InformationBe the most complete source on the Internet of news, information and analysis about standards and the role they play in society_7fa8e6ce-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa4Fourteen Ways to Get the Most Out of ConsortiumInfo.org:DiscoveryFind: The right consortium to join by reading Participating in Standard Setting Organizations and then reviewing those that are available in the appropriate category at the Standard Setting Organization and Standards List_7fa8e7a0-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa41Investment ValueMaximize: Your investment of time and money in joining a standard setting organization by reading Maximizing the Value of Consortium Participation_7fa8e99e-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa42IPRUnderstand: What a standard setting Intellectual Property Rights Policy is all about_7fa8ea52-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa43GuidanceLearn: Everything else you need to know about standards, standard setting, and the organizations that create them at The Essential Guide to Standard Setting and Consortia_7fa8eb06-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa44DirectoryForm: A consortium with the help of the service providers listed at the Professional Services Directory_7fa8ebe2-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa45ResearchDo Research: At the Standards MetaLibrary, at the Laws, Cases and Regulations section of the site, and at the cumulative archive of the Consortium Standards Bulletin_7fa8ecbe-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa46eJournalSubscribe: To our free, award winning, monthly eJournal, the Consortium Standards Bulletin_7fa8ece6-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa47News FeedsRSS: Use our RSS feeds to get standard News as it happens, articles as they are added to the MetaLibrary, entries as they are added to the Standards Blog, new consortia as they are added to the Standard Setting Organization and Standards List, and essays as they are added to Consider This…_7fa8ed4a-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa48BookstoreBrowse: For books at Biff's Technology Bookstore, the only on-line bookstore that categorizes books by the standards to which they relate (and support ConsortiumInfo.org at the same time!)_7fa8ee12-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa49Historical ContextBroaden: Your understanding of the role that standards have played throughout history, and what they mean to society today, by reading the essays at Consider This…_7fa8eee4-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa410Website News FeedsGet: A free ConsortiumInfo.org Standards News Feed for your website_7fa8efd4-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa411Press ReleasesSend: Us your press releases, articles for the MetaLibrary, and links to new consortia so that we may include them at ConsortiumInfo.org. _7fa8f11e-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa412Find out how at our Communications CenterLinksLink: To ConsortiumInfo.org. _7fa8f1fa-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa413Find out how at our Communications CenterPartnershipsWork together on content, conferences, or other projects_7fa8f2e0-d2ec-11e3-989d-f8167f0e3aa414Partner: Is there a way we could work together on content, conferences, or other projects? Let's talk about it. Contact by email: Andrew Updegrove, or by telephone at (617) 350-68002014-05-03http://www.consortiuminfo.org/aboutsite/OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net