Layer!7!Technologies

Effectiveness*of*Federal*Agency*Participation*in*Standardization*in*

Select*Technology*Sectors*for*National*Science*and*Technology*

Council's*Sub?Committee*on*Standardization

Layer!7!Technologies!Response!to!the!Public!RFI
Effectiveness of Federal Agency Participation in Standardization in Select Technology Sectors for National Science and Technology 

Council's Sub-Committee on Standardization

©!Copyright!2011!by!Layer!7!Technologies,!Inc.!(www.layer7tech.com)! 2

Contents

Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 3

Relevance .................................................................................................................................................... 3

Brand ........................................................................................................................................................... 4

Strategies..................................................................................................................................................... 5

About!Layer!7!Technologies......................................................................................................................... 6

Contact!Layer!7!Technologies...................................................................................................................... 6

Legal!Information ........................................................................................................................................ 6
Effectiveness of Federal Agency Participation in Standardization in Select Technology Sectors for National Science and Technology 

Council's Sub-Committee on Standardization

©!Copyright!2011!by!Layer!7!Technologies,!Inc.!(www.layer7tech.com)! 3

Introduction

NIST!has!issued!a!public!RFI!asking!for!perspectives!on!“the!effectiveness!of!Federal

agencies'!participation!in!the!development!and!implementation!of!standards!and!

conformity!assessment!activities!and!programs”.!This!paper!briefly!outlines!Layer!7’s!

perspective!on!the!challenges!NIST!faces!and!some!of!the!opportunities!that!the!agency!

should!take!advantage!of.

Layer!7!Technologies!is!a!leading!supplier!of!technology!for!securing!and!managing!Web!

services,!deployed!both!onFpremise!and!in!the!cloud.!The!company!is!a!supplier!to!a!broad!

range!of!US!Federal!Government!projects.!This!paper!focuses!exclusively!on!the!standards!

and!technology!associated!with!Layer!7’s!area!of!expertise!around!Internet!technologies,!in!

particular!cloud!computing!and!web!services.!!!!!

Relevance

There!is!a!natural!wax!and!wane!in!the!influence!a!standards!body!commands!within!any!

community.!Nowhere!is!this!more!evident!than with!Internet!technologies.!This!sector!

moves!extremely!fast;!it!benefits!tremendously!from!standardization,!yet!often!resists

formal!specification.!Until!recently,!NIST!has!been!perceived!as!having!virtually!no!

relevancy!to!the!vendors,!research!groups,!and!individuals!making!up!this!community.!

However,!due!to!recent!valuable!contributions!by!NIST,!this!perception!has!begun!to!

change.!This!change!has!created!an!opportunity!for!NIST!to!assume!a!leadership!role!in!the!

community.!

At!present,!OASIS!(http://www.oasisFopen.org)!is!the!standards!organization!with!the!

greatest!influence!and!productivity!in!the!Internet!standards!space.!This!organization!

gained!an!upper!hand!in!the!last!dozen!years!by!defining!key!Web!and!Web!services!

standards,!including!SAML!and!WSFSecurity.!It!absorbed!early!work!by!UN/CEFACT!in!

ebXML!(which!was!visionary!but!not!successful),!as!well!as!the!Web!Services!

Interoperability!Organization!(WSFI).!OASIS!is!now!moving!into!basic!cloud!identity!

standardization!in!an!effort!to!retain!its!commanding!position.!However,!with!the!current!

loss!of!momentum!behind!the!Web!services!stack!(WSF*),!many!perceive!OASIS!as!being!on!

a!downward!slide!toward!less!relevancy!around!emerging!technologies.

The!W3C!(http://www.w3.org/)!is!responsible!for!core!Web!standards!and!has!done!an!

admirable!job!in!building!and!maintaining!a!foundation!that!is!able!to!effectively!evolve!

with!technological!improvements.!It!lost!the!power!struggle!at!the!turn!of!the!century!

aound!Web!services!standards,!but!has!managed!to!keep!focused!on!evolving!the!very!

important!basic!Web!standards!such!as!HTML.!This!demonstrates,!however,!the!difficulty!

this!organization!has!moving!outside!of!its!basic!sphere!of!influence!(although!one!might!

argue!that!this!is!probably!this!organization’s!greatest!strength!as!well).!The!W3C’s!
Effectiveness of Federal Agency Participation in Standardization in Select Technology Sectors for National Science and Technology 

Council's Sub-Committee on Standardization

©!Copyright!2011!by!Layer!7!Technologies,!Inc.!(www.layer7tech.com)! 4

continued!emphasis!on!semantic!Web!technology!is!academically interesting!but!thus!far!

has!had!little!real!impact!on!web!usage!patterns.!The!unfortunate!side!effect!of!these!efforts

is!to!foster!a!community!perception!of!distraction!in!uncertain!futures!and!to!further!

diminish!the!potential!future!influence!of!the!W3C.

The!IETF!(http://www.ietf.org/)!remains!relevant!only!for!RFCs,!which!have!been!and!will!

remain!to!be!an!important!central!authority!for!basic!lowFlevel!Internet!technologies.!Many!

RFCs!continue!to!be!produced,!but!few!that!are!arguably!relevant.!IETF!did!define!the!very!

important!XML!security!suite!in!the!late!1990s!(XML!encryption,!canonicalization,!and!

signing),!but!since!then!have!moved!back!down!the!stack.!

NIST!has!traditionally!had!little!influence!around!Internet!technologies.!The!organization!

has!been!involved!in!some!fringe!standards!such!as!VRML;!this!showed!promise!in!the!late!

1990s,!but!is!no!longer!relevant.!The!great!exception!to!this!is!NIST’s!recent!contribution!to!

the!definition!of!cloud!computing,!which!has!been!welcomed!by!the!community!at!large!and!

is!referenced extensively.!Although!by!no!means!a!standard,!the!definition!addressed!a!very!

important!need!for!more!formalized!clarification!of!an!emerging!term.!It!should!be!noted!

that!this!work!was!a!collaborative!effort!by!NIST!and!independent!consultants!who!were!

very!familiar!with!the!emerging!cloud!technologies.!

NIST must!look!hard!at!its!success!with!its!definition!for!cloud!computing!and!use!this!as!a!

model!for!future!collaboration!with!the!Internet!community.

Brand

Branding!is!tremendously!important!to!standards.!A!standards!organization!with!a!strong!

brand!conveys!authority,!and!its!work!products!are!much!more!likely!to!see!widespread!

vendor!adoption.!NIST’s!brand!has!both!great!strengths!and!great!weaknesses!in!the!

Internet!community.!It!is!important!for!NIST!to!continue!to!build!on!the!brand!strengths!to!

be!relevant!in!the!future.!

Governmental!standards!authorities!command!a!natural!respect.!The!ebXML!standard!was!

initiated!by!UN/CEFACT,!and!during!the!term!of!these!standards’!development!participants!

often!emphasized!that!they!were!working!on!a!UN!project,!which!suggested!a!global!scope!

with!a!humanitarian!angle.!This!played!well!in!the!Internet!community.!

NIST!has!a!storied!history!in!the!US!and!can!command!similar!respect,!but!only!if!it!

simultaneously!deFemphasizes!pejorative!views!of!all!governments!being!slow!moving!and!

bureaucratic.!The!Internet!community,!despite!its!forwardFlooking!stance,!does!connect!

with!certain!institutions!with!long!history.!The!US!Patent!office!is!an!excellent!example.!

Although!most!patents!are!companyFinitiated!to!protect!its!own!interests,!individuals!very!

often!desire!the!association!with!the!continuum!of!invention!that!the!USPTO!represents.!

NIST!can!potentially!leverage!similar!inclinations.!
Effectiveness of Federal Agency Participation in Standardization in Select Technology Sectors for National Science and Technology 

Council's Sub-Committee on Standardization

©!Copyright!2011!by!Layer!7!Technologies,!Inc.!(www.layer7tech.com)! 5

The!NIST!brand!also!conveys!vendor—and!to!some!extent!political—neutrality.! This!is

critically!important!in!today’s!standards!world,!where!largeFvendor!buyFout!of!an!

organization!(through!board!seats,!sponsorship!of!events,!or!simply!stacking!individual!

standards!working!groups)!is!perceived!as!a!significant!problem.

Strategies

There!is!at!present!a!void!in!standards!leadership!in!the!Internet!community.!OASIS!power!

is!on!a!downward!trend,!and!there!are!no!smaller!upFandFcoming!organizations!that!appear!

to!be!in!a!position!to!challenge!this.!The!Internet!community!is!also!still!in!somewhat!of!an!

standards!hangover!from!the!exuberance!of!the!WSF*!era!of!the!last!decade.!Vendors!made!

tremendous!investment!in!standards!during!this!time,!only!to!see!interest!in!the!standards!

fade!as!new!technologies!took!off.!This!could!be!a!great!opportunity!for!NIST!to!show!

leadership.!

Cloud!computing!is!the!area!NIST!should!focus!on,!building!on!its!success!with!the!cloud!

computing!definition.!This!also!coincides!very!well!with!national!interests,!as!articulated!by!

Vivek!Kundra,!CIO!of!the!United!States,!in!this!emerging!technology!sector.!Cloud!is!an!area!

desperate!for!standards!leadership,!and!NIST!can!fill!this!void.

NIST!should!leverage!publicFprivate!partnerships!to!become!relevant!quickly!in!this!area.!

Most!Internet!standards!are!a!result!of!a!small!number!of!vendors!promoting!a!new!idea.!

NIST!can!become!the!neutral!third!party!that!legitimizes!the!efforts!and!brands!them!

effectively.!This!has!been!the!to!success!OASIS’s!success,!along!with!an!effective!governance!

model!that!is!democratic!and!does!not!allow!for!too!much!domination!by!large!and!

powerful!vendors.!

To!accomplish!this,!NIST!should!build!a!framework!for!fastFtracking!standards!that!

leverages!community!participation.!NIST!must!create!an!organizational!structure!that!

works!against!the!widespread!industry!perception!that!government!involvement!slows!

down!process.!NIST!should!be!about!brand,!lightweightFbutFeffective!project!management!

structure,!and!publication.!It!should!not!be!about!sector!expertise.

The!emphasis!must!be!on!agile!standards!that!interoperate,!not!overarching!grand!schemes

to!solve!vast!problems.!A!reference!implementation!should!always!accompany!a!standard,!

as!well!as!interoperability!compliance!tests.!NIST!should!not!define!the!standards;

however,!it!should!govern!the!process!that!allows!the!community!to!create!standards!

where!it!believes!formalized!definition!should!exist.!NIST’s!great!contribution!would!be!in!

effective!management!that!emphasizes!the!agile!processes!that,!at!its!best,!the!Internet!

community!already!employs.!
Effectiveness of Federal Agency Participation in Standardization in Select Technology Sectors for National Science and Technology 

Council's Sub-Committee on Standardization

©!Copyright!2011!by!Layer!7!Technologies,!Inc.!(www.layer7tech.com)! 6

About Layer 7 Technologies

With!offices!in!Washington,!DC and!Vancouver,!British!Columbia,!Canada;!Layer!7!Technologies!helps!enterprises!

accomplish!secure!and!costPeffective!business!integration!using!XML!and!Web!services.!Layer!7!Technologies’!

SecureSpanTM!Solution!is!the!first!technology!that!addresses!security!and!governance!across!a!Web!services!

integration!without!expensive!and!inflexible!programming.!With!the!SecureSpanTM!Solution,!customers!realize!

lowered!integration!costs,!increased!security!reliability,!and!the!ability!to!futurePproof!their!Web!services!

investments.!Contact!Layer!7!Technologies!or!visit!www.layer7tech.com!for!more!information.

Contact Layer 7 Technologies

Layer!7!Technologies!welcomes!your!questions,!comments,!and!general!feedback.

Email:

info@layer7tech.com

Web Site:

www.layer7tech.com

Phone:

(+1)!604P681P9377

1P800P681P9377!(toll!free!within!North!America)

Fax:

604P681P9387

Address:

Layer!7!Technologies

1200!G!Street,!NW!#800

Washington,!DC!20005

Legal Information

Copyright!©!2011!by!Layer!7!Technologies,!Inc.!(www.layer7tech.com).!All!rights!reserved.!SecureSpanTM!is!a!

registered!trademark!of!Layer!7!Technologies,!Inc.!All!other!mentioned!trade!names!and/or!trademarks!are!the!

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