Open Definition provides criteria for openness in relation to data, content, and software services.
The Open Knowledge Definition (OKD) sets out principles to define ‘openness’ in knowledge – ‘from sonnets to statistics, genes to geodata’. This covers all forms of data as well as content such as music, films, books, images and other material. It can be summed up in the statement that “A piece of knowledge is open if you are free to use, reuse, and redistribute it”.
The Open Software Service Definition (OSSD) defines ‘openness’ in relation to online (software) services. It can be summed up in the statement that “A service is open if its source code is Free/Open Source Software and non-personal data is open as in the Open Knowledge Definition (OKD).”.
We are currently working on a series of additional guidance documents for material in specific domains – such as open data in science and open government data.
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