Open business uses the internet to create open content and open source projects, allowing companies to tap into a vast pool of knowledge and human creativity. Google used this concept to launch a new mobile phone, while Goldcorp invited internet users to participate in finding gold. Traditional businesses are starting to adopt this model as a research and development strategy.
Open business is a concept that uses the Internet to create open content and open source projects, sometimes called “crowdsourcing.” The idea is that a company can tap into the vast pool of knowledge and human creative potential that can be found on the Internet. Access to this wealth of inputs can enhance the company’s ability to improve its products and services, as well as create new ones. The model operates according to the principle of transparency. Anyone can participate in an open source project, and anyone who participates can see what others are doing on the project and comment on it.
An example of how the open business concept works is Google’s use of an open source platform for the launch of a new mobile phone. Anyone in the world could contribute ideas for innovations, styles and special features. Using “peer production”, the people involved share and comment on each other’s ideas. Everything takes place in a central Internet location that anyone interested in the project can access.
As evidence of the economic potential of open source projects, many observers point to one of the projects of the Goldcorp company. Goldcorp has published maps for geological surveys and invited Internet users to participate in the selection of possible places where gold can be found. The venture has yielded over one hundred positive finds and the extraction of over three billion US dollars (USD) in gold.
With the concept of open content, internet users provide, edit and add to content. Wikipedia is an example of the potential of open content. The OpenStreetMap map service has developed a blueprint for a world map that uses open content.
Most of the open commercial societies are associated with information technologies and the Internet. Traditional businesses have reportedly been cautious about these innovations. However, some are starting to adopt a key concept of the open business model as a research and development strategy, which is to draw on knowledge available outside the company to enhance the resources it already has.
This has happened, for example, in the field of intellectual property. Some larger companies license their patents to small and medium-sized companies for development and further research. Ownership innovations and ideas allow the larger company with greater marketing resources to use the innovations. The companies are also experimenting with partnerships with other companies of different sizes and specialties to bring about a single venture. Each company brings its own knowledge, skills and approach to the task.
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