It’s almost time for the annual trek to the California Wine Country, known as the Open Source Think Tank. Open Source Think Tank, without a doubt, is one of the highlight events of every year for me, and one I really look forward to attending.
Over the past few years, I’ve had a chance to attend multiple of the Think Tanks, both in the US and in Europe. And I have never come away without learning something new, gaining a deeper insight into a technology, best practice or cultural interaction. Part of this is clearly from the attendees themselves. I’ve regularly met insightful people from all reaches, business, education, finance, investment, policy. I’ve been part of deep discussions around licenses and patents, business models and community practices. Honestly, I’ve seen some interesting challenges (a polite way of disagreeing) surface but have never seen anyone melt down, which is amazingly rare at open source events. I haven’t made them all but I certainly wish I had.
So what makes OSTT different?
Well, it really is a think tank. Questions and issues are proposed, discussed and ideas and concepts presented to the larger group. Participants are a mixed crowd. No idea is forbidden, though you had best be ready to defend it. In my case, being a notorious free thinker, I get to pop ideas that make others stop and think. And honestly they do it to me just as often.
Last year, at the European event, I was allowed to open a discussion on the concept of “What is Open”. The premise is that as we progress into an increasingly collaborative environment, that “Open” is becoming increasingly meaningless when used as a prefix. My honest expectations were that the attendees wouldn’t realize the impact of a devalued open “Open”, yet such didn’t happen. The engagement was energetic and discussions were lively. And the findings were actually somewhat expected, but not for the reasons most stated. You can read the Executive Summary (PDF) for yourself, but I’d like to share the definition that came out of this with you: “Open refers to a process that generates trust, permitting positive interdependence”. Elegant, no?
This year, the event promises to provide us with new cases and concepts. Look at the opening keynote; Chris Vein, US Deputy CTO for Innovation, Executive Office of the President. Our case studies, include the Department of Veterans Affairs and the GENIVI Alliance. We’ll get the annual legal update (the state of the State of the open source state), and a chance to network with some of the luminaries, like Jono Bacon of Ubuntu fame.
Adobe is sponsoring this event, along with others who understand the value in fostering the unique interactions of this event. We consider this to be a signature event, one where the value exceeds the costs substantially. We’ll share the group findings across Adobe, and use them to help make the decisions, albeit sometimes painful, that help foster open development.
And after it ends, I’ll come back to my job with deeper understanding of the ever-emerging world of open source.
