1. 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.
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, we are seeing that this bias no longer holds. 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

2. 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.
Word count: approx. 850