Openness and Innovation in Digital Standards
April 21, 2006
The value of "openness" has increasingly become a catalyst for change, transformation and innovation. An interesting article on openness discusses the paper, Open Standards, Open Source, and Open Innovation, written by the Committee for Economic Development, or CED. The CED is an independent, nonprofit organization, directed by business and educational leaders, and all other varieties of change agents and thought leaders. Their focus is to recommend change on major economic, social, and policy issues, both domestically and abroad.
What particularly interested me was the CED’s acknowledgment that openness spawns innovation, and the need for new ways to reward those who use openness to create change. The paper states, "Increased openness in the creation of computer software and other digital information products is needed to foster further innovation and economic growth for both the United States, and for the global economy". The full CED paper release can be found here.
Several government arenas have begun to integrate openness into their digital work processes. The Massachusetts state government, for example, has recently introduced a policy of "open source" document standards, and the NIH is increasing their efforts to be open in their funded scientific research by encouraging publication of results within 12 months of findings.
In the government, as well as the private sector, incorporating a standard of openness has unlimited potential, and has already begun to demonstrate a profound impact:
"Open standards are needed for digital technology to continue to develop and create economic growth in the information age," said Paul Horn, Chair of the DCC, and Senior Vice President, Research, IBM Corporation. "Additionally, open innovation is propelling change in commerce beyond the borders of software and information technology, even into physical goods."
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