1. A set of rules and specifications, which collectively describe the design or operating characteristics of a program or device, that is published and made freely available to the technical community. Open standards may contribute to rapid market growth if they encourage interoperability (the ability of a device made by one manufacturer to work with a device made by a different manufacturer). The opposite of an open standard is a proprietary standard which a company pushes in the hope that its standard, and no others, will come to dominate the market. From QUECID