Accelerated interoperability through simplified integration

 
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Redefining Interoperability
(Or why the IEEE and Oxford English Dictionary have it Wrong)
Jeff Merriman

First of all, before I get into anything else, let me start by offering what I believe to be a highly useful definition of interoperability, one that has prevailed following eight years of work on the O.K.I. project:

Interoperability - “The measure of ease of integration between two systems or software components to achieve a functional goal. A highly interoperable integration is one that can be easily achieved by the individual who requires the result.”

Which, of course begs a definition of integration:

Integration -...
Transformation
Jeff Kahn, Scott Thorne

The world is on the cusp of a major transformation in educational software and content.  A combination of factors are leading to new models and markets. Those who take advantage of these new markets first are likely to have a significant advantage. At the heart of this development are open specifications.

Educational technology is still relatively young and is evolving rapidly. In the early days of audio, you had to by music content and the device to play it on from the same manufacturer.  As that industry evolved, standards created a new market based on...
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"OKI in the Enterprise.pdf"
The Case for OKI in the Enterprise
Realizing a Service Oriented Architecture
Scott Thorne

Most Enterprises today are faced with an array of IT challenges. They need to maintain an existing technology base while absorbing a wide-array of new technologies. The costs of integration are high. The complexity and number of systems is growing. Technology continues to change at an increasing pace. Duplicate efforts result in pockets of overlapping functionality. Many of these issues are related to integration; making applications work with IT infrastructures and making system components work with each other. This is a hard problem that we%u2019ve struggled with for years, and so we%u2019re hoping that Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) will solve it all.

This document explores the benefits of SOA and introduces the value of O.K.I. Open Service
Interface Definitions...
Authorization Service Benefits
Scott Thorne
 
Authorization is needed in most applications, but just because it’s commonly used doesn’t mean it has to be a service. The actual function of authorization can be achieved with or without implementing it as a service. So before embarking on a project to create or use an authorization service, you need to have a clear idea of the potential benefits. So what are some of the unique advantages of defining and using authorization as a service? The overall goal is improved authorization management, that leads to having the right authorizations in place and enforced....
Where do we need choice in eLearning?
Scott Thorne

Introduction
 
“What standards do we need in e-learning?”  is a commonly debated topic. It should not be debated however without asking the opposite question; “Where do we need choice in e-learning?” Only through addressing both these questions, where we need standards and where we need choice, can we achieve desired results. 
 
Creating specifications for the emerging e-learning environment is complex. The complexity arises from several factors.
 
• Information technology is changing
• How we use technology in education is changing
• There are many stakeholders
• Educational software...
Redefining Interoperability
Transformation
O.K.I. in the Enterprise
AuthZ Service Benefits
O.K.I. as Strategy
Architectural Approaches