Open Source and Dialogues: What do they have in common?

Chances are you may have stumbled upon the term “open-source” more than once during your daily work routine. Aside from customized software and mobile applications however, open-source also refers to a larger movement that embodies a spirit of co-creation, which has come about with open networks, enabling collaboration on unprecedented levels. Harvard professor Yochai Benkler coins this phenomenon, “The Wealth of Networks,” which he explains in his latest book The Penguin and the Leviathan.  We were lucky enough to be able to hear his thoughts on how cooperation triumphs over self-interest at the Dialogues House on December 15th 2011.

With the advent of open source technology, the way in which society has been organized is undergoing radical transformation. For over two hundred years, our thinking about economics has been predicated by the concepts that Adam Smith outlined in 1776 in his book, The Wealth of Nations. Smith’s book is based on the premise that mankind is motivated first and foremost by selfish interests, and hence our economic drivers and models have incorporated this bias as the holy grail since that time.

Increasingly, however we are seeing that this bias no longer holds.  And yet, as important as wealth and freedom are to Smith, they are also important to Benkler. Benkler sees wealth and freedom not in terms of division of labor but rather in terms of efficiency and productivity, which increases when we leverage open source software and networks. Indeed, technological advances have created a new ethic of openness. This can be seen by the changes in the types of motivators such as cooperation, working towards the common good and equality. These motivators, once deemed to be on the periphery (based on Smith’s assumption that human’s are intrinsically selfish), are now becoming part of the way in which we interact, organize ourselves, learn from one another and contract business.

The power of cooperation
For Benkler, these networks represent a revolution in both individual autonomy and democratic action. Benkler believes that “we are ready to move into a system of cooperative humanity, in which new models of behavior, production, innovation and creativity are developing.”  One of the examples he gives relates to how we saw many of the Arab regimes fall last year as a consequence of leveraging online social networks. These online networks allowed for dialogues to occur with people, who in the past may never have been able to contact one another. Indeed, from streaming videos of these protests to the way in which these protests were organized, a fundamental shift in the way we organize ourselves and work together on a common goal has occurred. As such, we are becoming creators of our own destiny like never before in history.  We are no longer simply receivers of content, but we are also an integral part of the making of and distribution of that content via these open systems.

Benkler notes that “spillovers and the transfer of tacit knowledge from one generation to the next are enormously valuable and important.” Open-source communities are built upon a democratic concept in which ideas (as well as source code) are equal and can build upon one another in a continuum. Take the example of the Occupy Now movement, which like the protests in Arab countries last year, showed the power of networks. By occupying the heart of the financial center for not hours, not days, not weeks, but months on end, a movement which was started on Wall Street then spread to other cities and countries.  Worldwide we saw people mobilize their connections to challenge the way in which business has traditionally been done. According to Benkler, herein lies a critical maturation point for the market: we have moved from observing a cluster of individuals simply “doing stuff online”, into a larger dynamic solution space that firms, organizations, entrepreneurs, and individuals can leverage.

So how does this connect to dialogues and to innovation?
On one hand, innovation in technology has enabled dialogues to be held all over the world, changing our perception of what a dialogue is and how can we have one. At the same time, innovation itself is being shaped and defined by the serendipitous nature of a dialogue. Startups flourish in open innovation hubs, notably in the case of Silicon Valley. There, open communication and circulation of knowledge have shaped unforeseen breakthroughs by synthesizing knowledge rather than developing it in a closed proprietary manner. This flow ultimately resolves in faster innovation and uptake of that innovation: those who create the code will also be using it and in so doing, they create a market for its use.

It is very likely that this new way of working, co-creating, will replace the old way of working.  And thus we may see the future of competition not in our ability to keep the knowledge to ourselves, but rather by our ability to share it and allow others to build upon it.

By Dimitris Kritsilis and Elizabeth Kleinveld. Originally posted on www.dialoguesincubator.nl

Yochai Benkler is the Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard, and faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Since the 1990s he has played a part in characterizing the role of information commons and decentralized collaboration to innovation, information production, and freedom in the networked economy and society.

Reageer

Dialoog

Reageer