Open Standards - Open Source. The Business, Legal & Technical Challenges Ahead. (
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The meeting comprised four panels: Business, Technical, Legal, and Social and Ethical, each of which featured an introduction of the issues and follow-up with an interactive discussion between the speakers and the audience. The aim was to capture and publish the issues discussed in order to raise the industry awareness of the benefits of Open Source.The meeting was held June 24-25, 2003 at the University of St. Thomas (which also
co-sponsored the event) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The one-and-a-half day conference
brought together senior executives from a wide range of organizations to discuss
and evaluate the current state of Open Source. Representatives from Government,
Business, and Academia were all on hand to offer unique perspectives.
The meeting comprised four panels: Business, Technical, Legal, and Social and
Ethical, each of which featured an introduction of the issues and follow-up with
an interactive discussion between the speakers and the audience. The aim was to
capture and publish the issues discussed in order to raise the industry awareness
of the benefits of Open Source.
The four panel discussions examine the issues surrounding Open Source from various
perspectives:
Business
• Making the business case for Open Source
• The business drivers for Open Source
• What is the future of Open Source?
Technical
• Is it robust, scaleable, portable, interoperable?
• Is it feasible for SME's (small, medium enterprises) to use Open Source?
• What is coming down the road?
Legal
• Understand licensing and distribution
• Managing intellectual property rights
• Are there any special considerations for intellectual property rights?
Ethical & Social Implications
• The ethics and code of conduct for Open Source developers
• The social ramifications of an Open Source work force
• What impact will Open Source software have on the IT divide?
The meeting dug into the significant issues in all four areas, with collaboration
models dominating the discussion, even though contentious issues hit every panel.
The focus of each panel was the quantifiable benefits and the steps to risk
mitigation by relying on Open Source, as well as perspectives on the enormous
social and ethical implications of the Open Source movement.
