About
The Open Service Interface Definitions (OSIDs) define a service-based architecture to promote software interoperability among diverse systems.
The OSIDs are a suite of interface contract specifications based on common integration points. These create the blueprints for building new systems.
The OSIDs are also used as a project management tool used to slice complex projects among parallel streams.
The OSID Unified Data Model driving the specifications have proven to be one of the best in higher education.
Status
OSIDs continue to be used and improved to solve the tougher integration challenges across a broad range of service domains in both small and large-scale enterprise systems.
The current release is 3.1.0 released in 2026.
History
The OSIDs were initially developed in 2001 as part of the MIT Open Knowledge Initiative Project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to provide an architecture for learning systems in higher education.
Updates
- 2026-05-15: OSID 3.1.0 now available. [release notes]
- 2021-03-09: OSID Patch Release [release notes]
- 2021-01-11: OSID Patch Release [release notes]
- 2020-07-22: OSID Patch Release [release notes]
- 2020-01-28: OSID Patch Release [release notes]
- 2019-08-14: OSID Patch Release [release notes]
- 2019-06-21: OSID Patch Release [release notes]
- 2018-03-01: OSID Specification Request 13 submitted. [listing]
- 2016-03-01: OSIDs in Next Generation Learning Environment [paper]
- 2014-07-25: OSID Specification Request 10 submitted. [listing]
- 2014-07-18: OSID Specification Request 9 submitted. [listing]
- 2014-06-19: OSID 3.0.0rc5 now available. [release notes]
- 2014-06-03: OSID Specification Request 8 submitted. [listing]
- 2014-04-03: OSID Specification Request 7 submitted. [listing]
- 2014-03-26: OSID Specification Requests 5 & 6 submitted. [listing]
- 2014-03-09: OSID 3.0.0rc3 now available. [release notes]
- 2014-02-01: OSID 3.0.0rc2 now available. [release notes]
- 2013-10-21: OSID 3.0.0rc1 now available. [release notes]