Almost exactly a year after we first raised the subject of technology standards, the Housing Technology Standards (HTS) are beginning to take shape, with the publication (see opposite page) of the draft aims of HTS v1.0… still a long way to go, though.
This is an ambitious but very worthwhile project. If successful, it will help the whole social housing market. Housing providers will find it easier and more cost-effective to run their businesses, IT suppliers will find software development easier and more profitable and most importantly, tenants will have access to better homes and higher-quality customer service.
We should point out that whatever standard(s) are developed, they will be voluntary on the part of both housing organisations and IT suppliers. The intention is to make them so ubiquitous, popular and effective that mandatory compliance will never be necessary.
We already know from the inaugural standards meeting last month that integration and standards are the subject of widely varying opinions. However, we are still in the early stages of development so now is absolutely the best time to let us know (standards@housing-technology.com) what you think of the HTS vision and manifesto on the opposite page and to tell us whether or not you support the idea. We will do our utmost to accommodate all comments and suggestions into the next stages of the standard’s development.
