Foundations of Open: Technology and Digital Knowledge Local 2020 Summit
 
 
Australians are notoriously ingenious, capable of solving problems large and
small with whatever materials and ideas we have to hand. We're great at “do
it yourself” and “give it a whirl”, which is precisely why we have been so
successful in the application and development of Open Source ideas and
technology.

Open Source software is developed by individuals and companies around the
world, sharing their ideas and work in a form of enlightened self-interest.
What I, as an individual and in my work, have contributed to the world of
Open Source has been repaid many times over by the contributions of others,
many of which I benefit from every day.

Open Source describes both a methodology and the technology itself, and is
the earliest and most influential success story in large-scale Internet
peer-production. Great examples of world-beating Open Source include: The
Ubuntu operating system, the GNOME desktop user interface, the Linux kernel,
the Samba file server (created here), the Apache web server and the Firefox
web browser. Australians are involved, and in many cases have a leading
role, in all of these projects and more.

Google - regarded by many as the dial-tone of the Internet - was able to
scale up “from garage to global” using Open Source software, and applies
many lessons learned from the Open Source community to their own governance
and development processes. An enormous amount of Open Source technology is
used to give you Google search results every day.

Open Source technologies and methodologies can be used as a force multiplier
for Australian ideas. Alone, we do not have the strength in numbers or scale
to effectively take on the world. But by building our great ideas upon the
shared work of the world's Open Source community, and creating open,
collaborative communities around our ideas, we can give ourselves an
impressive head start.

Opportunities for Open Source in Australia's future:

* Mandate Government agencies and encourage Australian business to use and
publish information in openly accessible, openly implementable
standards-based formats. This will reduce our dependency on proprietary
technology, and encourage sharing of information.

* Publish most information created or collected by Australian Government
under Open Source or Open Content licenses. The USA has a thriving
geospatial industry built on public domain mapping data published by US
Government agencies. Open innovation built on such information can create
industries, and generate new business for Australian companies, giving us
experience to take on world markets.

* Encourage our educational institutions to publish and participate in Open
Source projects, providing students with important practical technology
skills, and an understanding of how to participate in a collaborative,
open development environment.

* Adopt Open Source practices and methodology in every area of Australian
innovation and research & development. Publish our ideas for public good,
and build open, collaborative communities around them to foster further
use, development and commercialisation. Our major research organisations
are only just beginning to see the opportunities here.

Jeff Waugh
Waugh Partners

Last modified: Thursday, 10 April 2008, 01:53 PM