Digital Technology Standards What To Look Out For

Digital Technology Standards: What To Look Out For ECURE Conference October 11, 2002 Charles Dollar Thecdollar@cs. com

What Are Standards? “Standards are documented agreements containing technical specifications or other precise criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines, or defintions or other characteristics to ensure that materials, products, processes, and services are fit for their purpose. ” International Standards Organization

Standard Principles n Consensus n Industry-wide n Voluntary

Types of Standards n De jure (sanctioned standards organizations) n De facto (industry practice) n Proprietary (specific company practice)

What Makes A Standard Succeed? n Addresses a real need n Market place penetration n Transparent n Successful and failed standards

Strengths and Weaknesses of Standards Weaknesses Strengths n Stability n n Interoperability n n Interconnectivity n n Lag behind technology Not necessarily the best technical solution n Vendor compliance n Change over time n Unending migration Portability Supports migration

Standards and Migration Changing Standards Digital Records Changing Technologies Over Time

Selected Standards that Affect Long. Term Access to Electronic Records n n n XML JPEG 2000 PDF – X, A