Remember when taking public transport meant searching for a timetable or worse, trudging out to a bus stop to find the schedule? When you had to rely on experience to figure out whether the 22 or the 15 bus or the subway would get you to your destination faster?
Today, we just click on our map app and every transportation option, fare, and schedule is at the tip of our fingers. This is possible thanks to an open standard called the General Transit Feed Specification that allows every transit provider to share information in a common format with any map provider.
A similar problem exists when it comes to fiber optic networks. Operators, regulators, ministries, and researchers can’t see, in a single place, all the existing backbone fiber infrastructure that connects their country and their region. Each operator or government may report it in their own way, making it challenging for anyone to figure out what’s actually there and how to improve it. There is no clear global consensus on how to report fiber data, and we need one.
That’s why the Open Fibre Data Standard (OFDS) exists. It’s an open data, open standards initiative supported by the Internet Society to develop and implement a common language for describing terrestrial fiber networks.
Why Standards Matter
Voluntary standards are what allow the Internet to work. They are rules that people (networks, Internet users, etc.) agree to use to make the Internet operate efficiently. In network operations, these include routing protocols, which help determine how data moves across networks, and other technical standards, which provide guidelines that enable usability and interoperability.
Internet standards work well because they’re voluntary, so no person or group is forced to use them. And yet, many choose to. But how can you build a global standard? No single person or organization can do it successfully. A true global standard should be built and managed in a multistakeholder process.
Why Multistakeholder Governance Works
A multistakeholder process means that all people and organizations interested in the discussion—in this case, building a standard for reporting fiber infrastructure—can participate and weigh in.
In a multistakeholder governance model, decisions don’t come from a single person or organization, but are made through consensus. The result is building standards that reflect the needs of many stakeholders and that are continuously managed with those needs in mind. This makes it easier to get people interested in using the standards—after all, everyone built them together.
This is not a new approach. In fact, this is what keeps the Internet running and enables it to grow. Several standards we use every day are set and managed by a number of international bodies, includingthe Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF), the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and many others.
Without standards, the Internet would be a mess of networks that don’t communicate well with each other. Standards have made it so successful that, in a few short decades, it now reaches most of the world. But over time, new standards are needed so it can keep growing, connecting more people, and allowing everyone to have a meaningful experience online.
The Open Fibre Data Standard Initiative
An open standard to describe fiber infrastructure will help to enable an Internet that truly reaches everyone. It will make it easier for policymakers, Internet service providers, and local governments to plan and implement infrastructure that can bring more people online.
The Open Fibre Data Standard describes what data to publish about fiber optic networks and how to structure and format that data, using a set of common concepts and definitions. The standard also contains guidance and tooling to support the publication and use of fiber network data in a range of formats to suit most user needs.
In 2025, the initiative took important steps to build and push this standard forward. Among them, it established an interim multistakeholder governance group with the Internet Society playing a secretariat role to promote the standard’s adoption and guide its evolution.
There’s still a long way to go, but the Open Fibre Data Standard has already established a solid foundation.
Read a highlight of OFDS achievements in 2025 and follow its latest updates.
Image © Stephen Song