Standards and Specifications at the Linux Foundation
Supporting specification development and adoption from ideation to international standard.
Open source-inspired collaboration methods meet the due process of standardization in our unique approach to specification development.
Projects benefit from having the flexibility and structure to change as their goals are advanced and refined. Start small or start big - collaboration begins in different ways. Right-sized governance models, support programs, tools, and access to expertise are critical for ensuring projects move forward quickly and correctly. Projects can choose from multiple IPR and funding modes, and optionally take advantage of the Linux Foundation’s best-in-class services.
Joint Development Foundation
For projects who want to set up a traditional standards development activity, JDF provides the legal umbrella and widely-accepted document templates to get work underway quickly and efficiently. JDF Project Series have the option to advance work for international acceptance through our ISO/IEC JTC1 PAS submitter status.
Community Specification
Community Specification provides the licenses, git-friendly development workflows, and best practices guidelines for projects who want to develop specifications in the same place they develop reference implementations, documentation, test suites and more. Community Specification projects scale from small group problem-solving to multi-vendor collaborations.
RESEARCH
2023 State of Open Standards
Share your insights into the use, growth, and impact standards and specifications efforts on the open technology ecosystem, and help inform strategic decisions based on trends in the ecosystem.

WEBINAR
Getting Started with Community Spec: The Lightweight, Open Source Standardization Path
View the recording to learn how to leverage Community Specification for your next project.

The Latest in Standards
Explore Our Standards and Specifications Projects
We host over 200 active specification and standards projects. We specialize in “open” specifications and standards that encourage collaboration among diverse groups of stakeholders.
Our communities are building standards and specification across technology horizontals and industry verticals. See our full list of projects here.
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To request more information about starting a project or other questions, please email admin@jointdevelopment.org.