Open Platform

open platform - In the past, the term platform denoted any specific hardware and operating system combination, such as the Windows/Intel platform. It now used more generally describes an application programming interface (API) or set of APIs that provide access to computing power, database, GIS or other services hidden "underneath" those APIs. The acronym "API" is generally giving way to "interface" in programmer-speak. No single vendor provides an open platform unless all the exposed interfaces are open interfaces as defined above. An open platform needs to be like the IT industry`s Web Services platform, which is still, as of August, 2003, largely unencumbered by proprietary restrictions and is the product of a non-exclusive consensus process.

[Category=Geospatial ]

Source: Open Geospatial Consortium, 27 June 2011 10:06:57, http://www.opengeospatial.org/ogc/glossary