Openness as we have defined it is not guaranteed; rather, it is the outcome of a combination of policy choices interacting with already existing institutional arrangements and network infrastructure, among other factors. In this section we explore these different factors that determine the relative openness of any particular good. We break up the components into two major categories: the social and digital environments. The social environment is the social layer that consists of the institutional, cultural, political and economic structures with their unique characteristics whose activities maintain and sometimes change those structures. The digital environment consists of the networks, devices and standards as well as the content that are embedded within the social environment.
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