Openness is a concept with very versatile usage; open being commonly used as a noun, verb, or adjective. In the Macquarie Dictionary there are currently 82 entries for open, including definitions such as ‘not shut’, ‘to disclose’, ‘an unobstructed space’, ‘to render accessible to knowledge’, ‘to cut or break into’, ‘to begin’, ‘to uncover’, … etc.

There are three key features or goals of open standards development – openness, consensus, and due process. These goals are actively pursued by both 'standards development organizations' (organizations that focus on the practicalities of developing industry specifications that then become candidate standards, such as OASIS, the IMS Global Learning Consortium and the W3C) and 'standards setting organizations'  (organizations that establish formally accredited standards, such as ISO and the IEEE LTSC).

A comprehensive Glossary of Specifications, Standards, and Protocols is available on the CCLRC website.