Breaking Down Digital Barriers

White Paper

What is ICT interoperability?
What are the general benefits and drawbacks of ICT interoperability?
How can we best achieve optimal levels and types of interoperability?
Conclusion: Towards a process for assessing optimal levels of and approaches to ICT interoperability.

What technological, market, and legal interactions have created the current state of DRM-protected music?
What security, autonomy, and other concerns make interoperability more or less desirable in the DRM context?
How can we assess competing approaches to interoperability?
Conclusion: Although our economic analysis is inconclusive, for policy reasons we find DRM interoperability desirable; a blended approach combining private-sector efforts with limited government involvement, such as through consumer protection or competition law, is optimal.

What is Digital ID, and what efforts are underway towards implementing interoperable Digital ID systems?
What can be achieved by Digital ID interoperability, and at what likely cost to consumers and others?
What paths to Digital ID interoperability are most likely to succeed?
Conclusion: Assuming market actors continue on their current trajectory, one or a few interoperable Digital ID systems are likely to emerge through open standards processes and technological licensing; this has the potential to spur significant innovation if privacy and security concerns are adequately addressed.

What are mashups, and how have they grown so rapidly in only a few years?
What technological, legal, and social underpinnings have enabled the rise of mashups?
How can the interoperability and innovation almost inherent in mashups be sustained?
Conclusion: Although mashups are in a phase of rapid growth and widespread innovation, problems relating to market structure and contractual relationships lurk underneath the surface; stabilizing those non-technical connections would enhance sustainability.