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"UNESCO and Commonwealth of Learning are two global organisations that are championing the open learning cause and have just published the results of a major survey: Survey on Governments' Open Educational Resources (OER) Policies. They sent out a questionnaire to all 195 UNESCO member states asking them whether they had any policies concerning the use of OER in the country's schools and universities. Less than half (82) of these countries replied in time but the results show that there are countries who are taking open education seriously and beginning to form national strategies around the open sharing of educational material. "

"Gary Lopez, MITE's Executive Director, whose educational publishing career spans commercial as well as OER experience, has an interesting perspective. He positions foundation-supplied capital as the seed for the heavy lifting required for creating rigorous OER instructional packages, sustained by institutional membership fees for a bundle of enterprise-level services. What we used to call a free trial, and what the digital world now speaks of as freemium, is morphing into a series of business strategies that give customers a free taste and then offer fee-based elements that enhance the value proposition. Let's look at some from the education arena. "

"Proponents of open education agree that "education can be improved by making educational assets visible and accessible and by harnessing the collective wisdom of a community of practice and reflection."1 Educators at all levels can take advantage of a diverse set of resource repositories for a wide range of disciplines. However, to maximize the utility of these resource collections, it is crucial to incorporate into their design specific strategies to support their sustainability by ensuring both short-term and long-term value. Furthermore, by purposefully integrating learning materials with teaching expertise, the value of open educational resources for teachers can be greatly enhanced. "