Objective

The term open has become popularly used to describe a variety of objects (software and technology, educational resources, education, etc.). Ambiguity exists in the meaning of open, for example open education where anyone can enroll with the only requirement a fee, or open education that is available to anyone, and without a cost. In addition to the ambiguity of open (what it enables), there is also ambiguity with how organizations might operate to allow openness.

The Openness Maturity Model (OMM) attempts to define open attributes and a means to assess the type of openness within the community of practice responsible for the design, development, and distribution of the open artifact.

Importantly, the Openness Maturity Model is not designed to assess the "openness" of an artifact (object, software, OER, etc.) claimed to be open–there are plenty of licenses which can be used to assess the openness of an object–rather, the model assess the openness of the organization/community that creates and manages artifact.

Traditional Maturity Model Definition:

There are five levels defined along the continuum of the a maturity model

Initial (chaotic, ad hoc, individual heroics) - the starting point for use of a new or undocumented repeat process.
Repeatable - the process is at least documented sufficiently such that repeating the same steps may be attempted.
Defined - the process is defined/confirmed as a standard business process, and decomposed to levels 0, 1 and 2 (the latter being Work Instructions).
Managed - the process is quantitatively managed in accordance with agreed-upon metrics.
Optimizing - process management includes deliberate process optimization/improvement.

"Opening" the Maturity Model Definition:

Using the above as a framework, the following can be applied to access the maturity of an open project:

Initial/Aware: (chaotic, ad hoc, individual heroics) - the starting point for use of a new or undocumented open project.
Repeatable - openness is at least documented sufficiently such that repeating the same steps toward openness may be attempted.
Defined - openness is defined/confirmed as a standard business process, and decomposed to levels 0, 1 and 2 (the latter being Work Instructions).
Managed - openness is quantitatively managed in accordance with agreed-upon metrics (those of the OMM)
Optimizing - openness management includes deliberate principle/process/practice optimization/improvement.

Openness Values

Courage: Courage is sufficient to participate in openness, however participants may be motivated by other causes, such as: a condition of employment; direction from a supervisor; peer pressure; or, a hidden agenda—perhaps to influence (or sabotage) direction.

Individual Courage: The willingness to proclaim oneself, or a project, open.

Initial: An interest/desire has been expressed in being open or joining an open initiative
- Evidence: Artifacts citing the individual's interest in being open or joining an open initiative.
- Example: The individual has joined an open community of practice; the individual has written (documented) their interests in openness or an open community of practice.
Repeatable: The individual understands and has expressed the values of openness.
- Evidence: Artifacts documenting the individual's descriptions of principles and practices commonly associated with openness.
- Examples: Wiki, blog posts or emails describing principles and practices commonly associated with openness.
Defined: The benefit(s) of openness for the individual has been articulated.
- Evidence: Artifacts describing how open principles and practices contribute to an individual's body of work or a community of practice.
- Example: The individual has submitted for consideration a document describing the "benefits" of open source software in reducing costs or increasing quality.
Managed: Expectations of openness for the individual have been established.
- Evidence: Artifacts describing how open principles and practices contribute to the individual's own body of work or interests.
- Example: Documentation describing how the individual can apply open principles and practices to their specific work/interests.
Optimizing: The individual continually updates the previous.

Organizational Courage: The willingness to declare an organization or project open.

Initial: An initial interest/desire has been expressed in being open or joining an open initiative.
Repeatable: The organization understands and has expressed the value of openness.
Defined: The benefit(s) of openness for the organization has been articulated.
Managed: Expectations of openness for the organization has been established.
Optimizing: The organization continually updates the previous.

What this organization might look like...

The organization regularly and articulates the promise of openness, but does not allow those outside of the original founders or invited guests to participate. For example, a personal blog on openness.

Participation: Participation is necessary in order to contribute. While there is no guarantee the contributions will be honest, one must participate in order to offer a honest contribution.

Individual Participation: Involvement with or within an organization that has identified itself to be open.

Initial: The individual has publicly associated themselves with an organization.
- Evidence: Membership, attendance, presence within an open community of practice.
- Example: Signed up for SourceForge; attended a Moodle Conference; joined the Educause Openness CG ListServ.
Repeatable: The individual engages consistently with the organization and consistently references their involvement.
- Evidence: Activity and interactivity within an open community of practice.
- Example: Facilitated a open community's conference session; engaged on the ListServ of an open community.
Defined: The individual has established a specific role with or within the organization.
- Evidence: Participation is defined/confirmed as a standard business process.
- Example: The individual holds a recognized role within an open community of practice;
Managed: The individual has undertaken specific responsibilities with the organization.
- Evidence: Participation is quantitatively managed in accordance with agreed-upon metrics.
Optimizing: The individual assesses and validates/redefines their role and responsibilities in the organization.
- Evidence: Participation management includes deliberate participation optimization/improvement.

Organizational Participation: The willingness to invite and admit any individual or other organization to engage with the organization

Initial: The organization has publicly declared anyone can engage with it.
Repeatable: The organization engages consistently with any interested party, and consistently declares the ability for engagement of interested parties.
Defined: the organization recognizes standard roles within the organization
Managed: the organization has established responsibilities associated with roles.
Optimizing: The individual assesses and validates/redefines their role and responsibilities in the organization.

What this organization might look like...

Honesty: Honesty requires sincerity, directness and specificity, where actions and statements are free from bias or dogma and motivated to achieve the goals and objectives of the initiative. Reflection (assessment) of one's ideas and self can only be genuine if one is honest.

Individual: Participants engage directly (i.e. straightforwardly), truthfully and authentically with the organization.

Initial:
Repeatable:
Defined:
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Organizational: The organization engages directly (i.e. straightforwardly), truthfully and authentically with the participants.

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What this organization might look like...

Reflection: Knowing one's limits or failures is fundamental to acknowledging them, however recognizing one's limitations does not mean one would admit to them or correct them. Humility accepts that current ideas, drivers, approaches, expectations, values might change and readily accepts those.

Individual: Participants reflect on, assess and reconsider, both their own and others, current and previous engagements.

Initial:
Repeatable:
Defined:
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Optimized:

Organizational: The Organization reflects on, assesses and reconsiders, both their own and others, current and previous engagements.

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What this organization might look like...

Humility: The scope of competency and capacity.

Individual: The individual understands how they can--and cannot--contribute to a project and what that contribution provides them.

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Organizational: The organization understands how it can--and cannot--contribute to an objective and what that contribution provides them.

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What this organization might look like...

Principles

Communication: Communication is necessary for transparency in openness. While some individuals/organizations may provide communication, this may be promotional, marketing or spin rather than actual policies, processes and practices. Yet in order for transparency to exist at all in openness, some form of communication must take place that conveys information and exposes organizational artifacts.

Individual: Participants actively share information with the organization.

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Defined:
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Optimized:

Organizational: The organization actively shares information with the participants.

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What this organization might look like...

Transparency: Transparency, or access to and discover-ability, of information, contributes to the development of affinity groups (self-organizing, self-interested, self-motivated, self-directed). If an organization provides access to information, individuals can find topics of interest and others who share those interests. Groups cannot effectively organize or contribute without knowing organizational details.

Individual: Information created by or managed by participants is discoverable by the organization.

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Defined:
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Optimized:

Organizational: Information created by or managed by the organization is discoverable by participants.

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What this organization might look like...

Self-organization: A group of at least two people is sufficient for collaboration in openness. However collaboration can occur outside of self-organizing groups, such as committees, departments, etc. who collaborate as part of their jobs or who may have been appointed, rather than based on an affinity for the topic.

Participation, roles and direction is based on personal or professional affinity

Initial:
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Defined:
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Optimized:

Participation, roles and direction is based on personal or professional affinity

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What this organization might look like...

Collaboration: Collaboration contributes to evidence-based decision-making but is not necessary. Individuals can use evidence in governance.

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Evidence-based decision-making

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What this organization might look like...

Meritocracy

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Objectives

Simplicity

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Emergence

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Incremental Development

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Rapid Feedback

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Continuous Feedback

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1. Process Categories

2. Processes

Organization Processes

Criteria	Definition	Metrics

The Artifacts Created During Participation in an Open Course
Pedagogical Intent
Learning Activities
Assessments
Assessment
Externally Used Resources
Credentialing (course and program level)
Course Content
- Access Dimensions: non-discriminatory: open to everyone–non restrictive.
- Licensing Dimensions:
  - Use
  - Reuse
  - Derivative Works
  - Economic Access (open to everybody irrespective of their financial means)
Learning Design
Instruction and Support
Delivery Technology

Resources Processes

Criteria	Definition	Metrics

Open Access - publishing of research data
Externally Used Resources
Licensing Dimensions:
- Use
- Reuse
- Derivative Works
- Economic Access (open to everybody irrespective of their financial means)
Software used
Public Contribution
Public comment
Interoperability - resources are distributed with cross-platform interoperability in mind (for example RTF vs. PDF)

Processes

Resources	Processes surrounding the creation and maintenance of resources
R1.
R2.
R3.
R4.
R5.

Support	Processes surrounding the oversight and management of community/institutional support
S1.
S2.
S3.
S4.
S5.

Evaluation	Processes surrounding the evaluation and quality control
E1.
E2.
E3.
E4.
E5.

Organization	Processes associated with institutional planning and management
O1.
O2.
O3.
O4.
O5.

(perhaps the indicators below would be represented by individual items under each process category?)

Key Indicators	Brief Description
Values, Principles	courage, participation, honesty, maturity, humility, communication, transparency, self-organization, collaboration, evidence-based decision-making
Objectives	simplicity, emergence
Practices	incremental development, rapid feedback, continuous feedback

Assessment Table

The "assessment table" becomes a matrix with each category of behavior assessed on a dimension:

Delivery
Planning
Definition
Management
Optimization

So an evaluator/participant seeks evidence that the maturity element is being delivered, the evaluator seeks evidence of a planning process, evidence that the organization defines the element, manages it (including measurement), and has a process in which the element is assessed against standards and improved (reflective practice).

Each of these dimensions are then assessed in terms of openness. The dimensions and openness rating taken together forms a matrix. In the eMM model, adequacy is represented by color, making it pretty easy to identify in which areas on which dimensions the organizations exhibits various levels of maturity.

Process Dimensions

each process is examined based on dimensions of the process capability:

Delivery

Planning

Definition

Management

Optimization

1

2

3

4

5

Process

Openness Key:

	Fully Open
	Largely Open
	Partially Open
	Not Open
	Not assessed

Practices

(This section would go in depth into each process and define the practices for each dimension of the Assessment Table. Further, this section would define the adequacy level for each practice.)

L1 Practices

Delivery
Practice #1 is defined here.
	Fully Open - (definition of fully Open practice goes here)
	Largely Open - (definition of largely Open practice goes here)
	Partially Open - (definition of partially Open practice goes here)
	Not Open - (definition of inOpen practice goes here)
	Not assessed

Practice 2 is defined here
	Fully Open - (definition of fully Open practice goes here)
	Largely Open - (definition of largely Open practice goes here)
	Partially Open - (definition of partially Open practice goes here)
	Not Open - (definition of inOpen practice goes here)
	Not assessed

Practice 3 is defined here	and so on.

Planning
Practice #1 is defined here.
	Fully Open - (definition of fully Open practice goes here)
	Largely Open - (definition of largely Open practice goes here)
	Partially Open - (definition of partially Open practice goes here)
	Not Open - (definition of inOpen practice goes here)
	Not assessed

Practice 2 is defined here
	Fully Open - (definition of fully Open practice goes here)
	Largely Open - (definition of largely Open practice goes here)
	Partially Open - (definition of partially Open practice goes here)
	Not Open - (definition of inOpen practice goes here)
	Not assessed

Practice 3 is defined here	and so on.

References:

Masson, P. (2011) Open Governance in Higher Education: Extending the Past to the Future. Educause Review. Available from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM1112.pdf.

Marshall, S. (2007) eMM Version 2.3 Process Descriptions. Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Available from http://www.utdc.vuw.ac.nz/research/emm/Publications.shtml

Waugh P. & R. Metcalfe (2007) The Foundations of Openness. What are we doing today, brain? Available from http://pipka.org/blog/2008/07/23/the-foundations-of-openness/

Agile causality http://openmasters.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/causality.png?w=768&h=1024

Openness Index

Objective

Traditional Maturity Model Definition:

"Opening" the Maturity Model Definition:

Openness Values

Principles

Objectives

1. Process Categories

2. Processes

Organization Processes

Resources Processes

Processes

Assessment Table

Process Dimensions

Openness Key:

Practices

L1 Practices