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 only the requirement of a fee and no education, versus being available to anyone without cost. In addition to the ambiguity of open and what it enables, also lies ambiguity with the openness of  organizations.

The "Openness Index" attempts to define open attributes while assessing the type of openness within the community of practice who's responsible for the design, development, and distribution of the open artifact.

Importantly, the "Openness Index" is not designed to assess the openness of an artifact, object, software, OER, etc. claimed to be open. There are plenty of licenses that can be used to assess the openness of an object, rather an organization or community that creates and manages artifact.