Glossary

These terms distinguish purchasing rules, software rights and technical standards. A policy category describes a government action; a license describes permissions and conditions; a format describes how information is represented. The procurement guide, license definitions and standards overview explain their connections in more detail.

Advisory policy: The CSIS survey’s category for guidance and policies such as considering open-source software alongside proprietary options. It differs from the survey’s mandatory classification. Related explanation.
Agreement on Government Procurement: A WTO agreement governing covered public purchasing among its parties. It is plurilateral: participation does not include every WTO member. Related explanation.
Apache License: A permissive software license allowing use, modification and distribution under its terms. Its permissions remain subject to the conditions stated in the license. Related explanation.
As such exclusion: The European Patent Convention limits its exclusion of specified subject matter to applications concerning that subject matter as such. Programs for computers are among the listed categories. Related explanation.
BSD license: A member of a permissive license family. The versions differ in their notice and other conditions, rather than requiring the same distribution terms as copyleft. Related explanation.
Certified EHR: Electronic health-record technology whose certification was part of eligibility for the HITECH incentive arrangements. Certification and evidence about outcomes are separate questions. Related explanation.
Common position: A Council position at a stage of the EU legislative process. In the computer-implemented-inventions proposal, it preceded Parliament’s final rejection. Related explanation.
Computer-implemented invention: An invention involving computer implementation, considered under patent rules rather than merely by the presence of software. EPO guidance discusses technical character and other requirements. Related explanation.
Copyleft: A licensing approach that preserves specified rights when copies or modified works are distributed. Its obligations and scope depend on the particular license. Related explanation.
Copyright: Protection for original expression fixed in a tangible form, including computer programs. It protects expression rather than ideas, procedures or methods themselves. Related explanation.
Decompilation: An activity covered by a limited interoperability-related exception in the EU Computer Programs Directive. The exception is subject to the conditions described in the directive. Related explanation.
DICOM: A technical standard for storing and transmitting medical images and related information. Its scope includes data structures and communication between systems. Related explanation.
Ecma International: A standards organization for information and communications technology. Its office-document specification is discussed alongside the wider standardization process on the formats page. Related explanation.
Electronic health record: A digital collection of patient and population health information that can be shared across care settings. Record contents and exchange are distinct software questions. Related explanation.
European Interoperability Framework: A framework for interoperability in European public services. Its versions address cooperation and information exchange between public administrations. Related explanation.
European Union Public Licence: A free-software license written and approved by the European Commission. It addresses software distribution in the legal setting of the European Union. Related explanation.
Federal Acquisition Regulation: The principal procurement rules for United States executive-branch agencies. They describe procedures for acquiring products and services through the federal acquisition system. Related explanation.
FHIR: HL7’s resource-based specification for exchanging health information. Resources describe shared information structures and can be combined or extended for particular uses. Related explanation.
Free software: Software defined by users’ freedoms to run, study, change and share it. Free refers to those freedoms rather than a guarantee of no purchase price. Related explanation.
FRAND: Fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory licensing commitments concerning rights needed to implement a standard. The term does not itself promise the absence of royalties. Related explanation.
GNU General Public License: A copyleft license family. Distribution of covered modifications carries source-code and license obligations described by the applicable version. Related explanation.
HL7: Technical standards for health-information exchange between software applications, produced by HL7 International. The term concerns system communication rather than a single record application. Related explanation.
Information blocking: An ONC-defined practice likely to interfere with electronic health-information access, exchange or use, subject to legal requirements and specified exceptions. Related explanation.
Interoperability: The ability of a system to work with other systems. Exchanging information and interpreting its meaning are related but distinct aspects. Related explanation.
ISO/IEC JTC 1: The joint ISO and IEC technical committee concerned with information-technology standardization. It is an institutional part of the standards process. Related explanation.
LOINC: A database and standard for identifying laboratory observations, with a scope that also includes other clinical information. It supplies identifiers rather than a record application. Related explanation.
Lock-in: Dependence on a supplier where moving to another supplier involves substantial switching costs. File formats and compatibility can form part of that dependence. Related explanation.
Mandate: A requirement to use a specified software or licensing model in an action the CSIS survey classified as mandatory. Proposed and approved requirements have different statuses. Related explanation.
OASIS: A nonprofit standards consortium associated with the development of OpenDocument. The consortium and the office-document format are separate subjects. Related explanation.
OpenDocument: An office-document format developed through OASIS and standardized through ISO and IEC. It covers document types such as text, spreadsheets and presentations. Related explanation.
Office Open XML: An XML-based office-document format associated with Ecma and ISO/IEC standards. Its specification and applications that implement it are distinct subjects. Related explanation.
Open source: A software distribution model defined by the Open Source Definition’s criteria. Source-code access alone does not satisfy all the criteria. Related explanation.
Open standard: A standard described as openly accessible and usable. Definitions vary over specification access, development processes and the rights required for implementation. Related explanation.
Open Source Initiative: The nonprofit organization maintaining the Open Source Definition and a license-review process. Its definition concerns software-license criteria rather than a public purchasing rule. Related explanation.
Patent: Legal protection for an invention subject to a jurisdiction’s patent requirements. Software-related eligibility differs by jurisdiction and by the claimed invention. Related explanation.
Permissive license: A software license with relatively limited requirements on use, modification and distribution, in contrast with copyleft conditions. Notice requirements may still apply. Related explanation.
Preference: A purchasing approach favoring a software model in an action the CSIS survey classified as a preference. It is distinguished from an exclusive requirement. Related explanation.
Proprietary software: Software whose rights holder restricts recipients’ sharing or modification rights. Exact permissions depend on its license rather than solely on the program’s price. Related explanation.
Public domain: A status in which software is not protected by exclusive copyright ownership. It differs from a copyright license granting specified permissions and conditions. Related explanation.
RAND: Reasonable and nondiscriminatory licensing terms for rights essential to a standard. RAND and FRAND concern licensing, while royalty-free describes payment conditions. Related explanation.
Royalty-free: Use of protected material without royalty payments for each use, copy or other specified measure. Other license terms can still matter. Related explanation.
Shared Source: Microsoft’s source-access initiative encompasses different license arrangements. Access to code does not mean that every offering meets open-source licensing criteria. Related explanation.
SNOMED CT: A comprehensive clinical terminology described by the National Library of Medicine. It supplies clinical terms used in electronic health information. Related explanation.
Software license: A legal instrument governing software use or redistribution. It translates permitted uses and distribution conditions into terms for recipients. Related explanation.
Technical character: An EPO patent-eligibility concept for computer programs. Its guidelines distinguish a further technical effect from normal interactions between program and computer. Related explanation.
Technology neutrality: Impartiality toward information technologies in public administration, as the Spanish reference defines it. It is distinct from a requirement to select a named product. Related explanation.
Telehealth: Electronic information and telecommunications used for remote health services, education, administration and public health. Telemedicine is a narrower part of that field. Related explanation.
Total cost of ownership: An estimate of direct and indirect costs of a product or service. It extends the cost question beyond an initial purchase price. Related explanation.
Trade secret: Business information valuable because it is not generally known and is kept secret. Its protection differs from copyright and patent protection. Related explanation.
Value for money: A purchasing assessment considering cost alongside needs and other decision factors. GOV.UK’s guidance examines functions, support, staff requirements and ongoing costs together. Related explanation.
VistA: The Department of Veterans Affairs’ health-information system, described as public-domain software. Its ownership status is distinct from the functions of its components. Related explanation.
Personal health record: A record in which the patient maintains health information. It differs from an institution’s record and from the interface supplied by a portal. Related explanation.