You may not have heard of The Open Group, a company that the Open
Software Foundation (OSF) and the X/Open Company recently formed. The Open Group
Research Institute used to be the OSF Research Institute, and its charter
remains much the same.
As Ira Goldstein, a founder of the OSF Research Institute and its former
head, said in the group's mission statement, "The Open Group Research
Institute investigates software technology needed to improve the scaleability,
portability, interoperability, and usability of computer systems. We conduct
these investigations collaboratively with academia and industry. Our methodology
is to develop complete prototypes that you can subject to rigorous measurement
and to provide a platform for others to build on our work. We are successful
when our research delivers innovation and economy: innovation by providing
solutions to difficult system technology requirements and economy by providing a
vehicle for shared investment in this research.
"Research Institute results are open. We make our prototypes available
as source code for research and evaluation to government, academia, and
industry. Commercial licenses are available for sponsor organizations. The
Research Institute hosts several symposia each year and presents its work
regularly at conferences." (Goldstein recently accepted the position of
Internet technology officer for Hewlett-Packard and chief technology officer for
HP's Computer Systems Organization.)