open source: business and governance
Post on 12-Apr-2017
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Open Source: Business and Governance
By Shane Martin Coughlan
About Me
Owner, Opendawn Consulting
Regional Director Asia, Open Invention Network
Executive Director / Vice President Far East, OpenForum Europe
Visiting Researcher, Shimane University
Overview
Software is a knowledge product
Open Source is a management approach
It uses licenses to create a situation that delivers value
Old vs New
Intellectual Property law was traditionally used to restrict freedom
Open Source uses Intellectual Property law to grant freedom
The Basic Approach
Use, Study, Share and Improve
Keep these freedoms for subsequent users (Copyleft)
The Result
Open Source licenses allows many stakeholders with many different motives to work together
This collaboration drives value
Open Source is Big Business
49 Billion USD global market in 2011
Figures from Linux Foundation
Business Models
Development
Integration
Support
Hosted Services
(just about anything except per unit licensing)
Early Governance
It was all about the licenses
There was a narrow focus on compliance
Common Problems
People don't read the licenses
People don't follow the license terms
Simple Solutions
Read the licenses
Follow the terms
Modern Governance
Honor obligations in procurement and deployment
Maximize value throughout the supply chain
Lifecycle Management
What types of code do you use and why?
How do you manage change?
How do you ensure your obligations are met?
How is this applied through the supply chain?
Modern Solutions
There are commercial and non-commercial approaches to addressing these challenges
For example, companies like Black Duck Software provide lifecycle management tools
Meanwhile, websites like FOSSBazaar.org provide shared governance information
The Patent Problem
Patents remain a challenge for Open Source
For example, third parties may use them to restrict competition from Open Source products
Addressing This
Open Invention Network (OIN) was established by Red Hat, IBM, NEC, Sony, Novell and Philips
It runs a non-aggression community with over 400 participants
It also has a large defensive portfolio
Open Source = Shared Platforms
Stakeholders collaborate across market segments to obtain value from and protect shared platforms like Linux
Case Study: Management
Linux Foundation helps stakeholders collaborate around Linux in the US, Europe and Asia
It runs meetings, working groups and conferences to encourage shared understanding
Case Study: Legal
The European Legal Network helps 280 stakeholders collaborate across 4 continents
It runs private mailing lists, special interest groups and conferences to share knowledge
In Summary
Open Source governance used to be focused on understanding licenses as obligations
Now it is about maximizing potential through shared rules to improve collaboration
Collaboration drives value and is also used to address challenges as they arise
The Future...
Open Source will be refined to increase returns and reduce risk
However...
How stakeholders collaborate and how they leverage IPR is a rational decision
Not everyone gets value from Open Source
The market balance between proprietary and Open Source approaches remains undetermined
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