Open Revolution #7 – The Rise of the 'Information Age' and the Death of Existing 'Nation States'

We are all passing through a turbulent time in history. We are in the midst of the transition from the 'Industrial Age' to the 'Information Age' and are experiencing major changes and disruptions similar to those experienced when our country transitioned from the 'Agricultural Age' to the 'Industrial Age'.  Many businesses and skills that used to be valued are disappearing. 

If that wasn't tough enough, we are also experiencing an even more traumatic and volatile shift similar to when the world began the transition from the old Feudal System of government to the modern day  Nation States characterized by constitutions and representative governments.  That change was spurred along by changes in new technologies and communication systems, e.g. steam engines and the printing press.

Today we find existing forms of government and Nation States beginning to give way to new forms as computers, the Internet, social media, and other disruptive technologies spread around the world and take hold. What does this all mean to us? What is going to happen? What will be replacing our existing system of government and way of life? I don't think any of us know for sure but we need to all participate in an 'open' discussion about the future we want.

An article in the January 30, 2012, issue of Time magazine entitled "Command and Control" described one scenario that is playing out that "We the People" may not want to accept. The article states that, "The rise of big stateless corporations, which now rival many countries in terms of economics and political clout, poses special new challenges to governments." Will our Nation State system give way to a new global Corporate State system?  Is this what citizens want? Do people have the power to challenge this trend? Are we too late?

Again, to quote the same Time magazine article, "Corporations have morphed from legal entities designed to ensure that an enterprise could survive the death of its owners to institutions possessing more rights than people." How did this come about? Have we already lost the power to take control of our future? Will elected government officials bought and paid for by corporations determine our future for us? I hope not.

I don't have the answers, but I am trying to ask the right questions. I believe our future lies along a better and more 'open' path. I believe in a more 'open' system determined and beholden to the people – to all of us. We now have the technology to start a more 'open' dialogue on the Internet and across social media sites. This is all part of what I call the global 'Open Revolution' that is well underway as witnessed by the Arab Spring, Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, and other activities and events taking place in the U.S. and across the world.

To conclude, I started this series of 'Open Revolution' blogs thinking I was simply talking about Open Source Software, Open Access, Open Data, Open Standards, Open Architecture, and Open Software Development Communities. As you can see, my logical train of thought has now lead me to start talking about  Open Government and a more momentous Open Movement that will 'rock our world'. 

More thoughts to follow as I continue to observe and think about the unfolding 'Open Revolution.  Please feel free to jump in and respond to this blog with your constructive comments.

'Trickle Up' vs. 'Trickle Down' Economics

Editorial:  This is just a short blog I felt I had to write and put out there. I voted for President Reagan years ago because he was the best leader at the time to get the U.S. back on track. I'm an Independent voter and generally try to pick the candidates with long range vision that will be the best leaders for America.

 

President Reagan proved to be the leader we needed at that time in history, but one of the few ideas he pushed that I always had a problem with was his 'Trickle Down' economic approach which heavily favors the wealthy. It made little sense back then and still bothers me today. I prefer the 'Trickle Up' approach which places emphasis on building up the middle class. 

 

Let's all take a closer look at these two different approaches and let me know what you think. It's especially important as we go into the 2012 elections to think about this. Personally, I tend to favor the 'Trickle Up' approach versus the 'Trickle Down' approach.

 

'Trickle Up' Theory - If you legislate to make the working class of citizens prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up and through every other class that rests on it. 

'Trickle Down' Theory - Tax breaks or other economic benefits provided by government to businesses and the wealthy will benefit poorer members of society by improving the economy as a whole.

As you think about the American Dream and the Future of America, which approach make more sense to you? 


* June 15, 2015 -  We now know the 'Trickle Down' theory of economics is dead wrong according to latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) findings http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/15/news/economy/trickle-down-theory-wrong-imf/index.html 

The Emerging 'Open Source' Industry & Mega-Companies

Speaking of new companies and job growth - senior executives, politicians, economist, and investors pay attention. Hundreds of major open source companies have been established and are now succeeding in the 'Open Source' Health, Education, Publishing, and other industries.  Think Alfesco, Red Hat, KitWare, MedSphere, Black Duck, Google, Eucalyptus, Mirth,  Canonical, Pentaho, JasperSoft and many more [not to mention well established companies like IBM and Oracle also playing in this space]. See COSI Open Solutions.  

Open source software has had a revolutionary impact on the software industry. With the success and ubiquity of open source projects, most enterprise and commercial software development teams now mix open source with internal code to shorten software development schedules and save on the development costs.  See BlackDuck Open Source ROI

The latest reports from Gartner, Forrester, Cenatic, and many other news and industry research organizations all point to the continuing growth of the open source marketplace. In fact, Red Hat recently became the first open source software company to generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue, a watershed moment for the global open source business community.  See COSI Open Business Studies & Reports.

Open source software has obtained a significant share of several markets, such as web servers, server operating systems, desktop operating systems, web browsers, databases, e-mail and other IT infrastructure solutions. A major driving force behind the adoption and growth of open source solutions in the U.S. has been the emergence and growth of open source software product and service providers with a profitable, sustainable economic model.  See Cenatic Report on International Use of Open Source Software – 2010

It would seem the time is right to start building more 'mega' companies in this space like Red Hat. Companies in the Open Source, especially in the Open Health, Open Education, and Open Publishing space, are ripe for the picking with potential growth as far as the eye can see. What do you think is going to happen?

A recent survey by Gartner, Inc. found that more than half of organizations surveyed have adopted open-source software (OSS) solutions as part of their IT strategy. Nearly one-third of respondents cited benefits of flexibility, increased innovation, shorter development times and faster procurement processes as reasons for adopting OSS solutions.  See Gartner Report

Looking forward to your comments and a 'heads up' about any major movements in this arena.

Wealth & Wise Leadership

I got sidetracked this week when I saw a news item about CEO pay in Investor Place.  The article stated that CEO pay increases jumped almost 40% last year. It also specifically reported that the CEO for McKesson earned $145 million last year.  It was shocking to hear that anyone, let alone the CEO of a health care IT company, could earn $145 million. What Board of Directors could go along with this, helping to pick the pockets of both the stockholders and customers.  

In the meantime, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, pay increased just 1.8% for those workers in the U.S. who still had a job.  The median income for a worker in America is now $753 per week, or roughly $40,000 a year.  Compare $145 million a year versus $40,000 and check your gut reaction, your common sense – or your business sense. I'm sure no law was broken at McKesson, but it still feel like highway robbery or major fraud has taken place and someone needs to be dealt with harshly.

As the gap between CEO pay and that of their workers continues to widen out of all proportion, forces will emerge to correct this situation which is out of control.  Thus we see the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements continue to grow and gather strength. The situation could spiral out of control if business and political leaders don't work to correct the ridiculous imbalance we can all see. 

When I see something so wrong taking place and evil taking hold, I find myself turning to the Bible for wisdom, understanding, guidance, and comfort.  I accessed a copy of the Bible online and ran a quick search through Proverbs, the book of wisdom, and extracted verses on wealth and sorted them to see what God was telling us about wealth and what we should be doing – whether we be rich or poor.  Take a look at what emerged – see Proverbs on Wealth.

Like many of my fellow citizens across the U.S., I am a Christian and ultimately know we must put our trust in God, and then buckle down to do what we can to combat evil and make things better.  We need wise, righteous leadership  in our country. We can't continue to suffer under the leadership of fools or the wicked and expect our country to remain strong.

What do you think? Has the gap between the rich and poor gotten too big? Are the leaders in the public and private sectors acting wisely? What will you do to help correct the situation?

Open Revolution #6 - The 'Information Age' and the 'Open Way'

We are in the process of transitioning from the Industrial Age of the past century into the Information Age of the 21^st century.  Many acknowledge this but don't really grasped what it means. We are moving from the 'closed' protective systems that worked well in the Industrial Age to the new, more effective 'open' systems approach that is the hallmark of the Information Age. We are moving to a new way of doing things – the 'Open Way'.

The Open Source Way is more than a development model; it defines the characteristics of a culture. The open source way thrives on broad collaboration and shared effort. The open source way is about possibility. Open source presents a new way to solve old problems. To share ideas and effort. The open source way multiplies: Knowledge; Effort; Inspiration; Creativity; and Innovation. The impact is exponential. The open source way opens doors. Open source offers a new perspective. Open, not closed. Collaboration, not isolation. From www.opensource.com/open-source-way

Think about it. The 'Industrial Age' was primarily characterized by organizations that placed a high priority on internal development of proprietary solutions and making sure their products were patented or copyright protected. Sharing ideas, data, information, knowledge,  or resources were not generally accepted practices. The Industrial Age was characterized by hierarchical organizational structures, management styles that were heavily controlling, assembly line production processes, inhouse developed information systems, and many other 'closed' management practices.

The characteristics of the new 'Information Age' are quite different. Look around and what you will see is a growing emphasis by organizations on the 'Open Way' . Every where you look you see people advocating and working on open standards, open communities, open source, open access to data, information, and knowledge. Collaboration, sharing, open solutions, sharing, and more participative 'hands off' management styles.

We're still in the midst of the transition, so many organizations are still operating under the old rules that worked well in the fading Industrial Age.  Many owners, managers, and workers haven't fully grasped or understood the changes taking place all around them. The Tea Part movement is unhappy and fighting to retain a hold on old ways. The Occupy Wall Street movement  is unhappy because the old systems and ways of doing things no longer work in this new Information Age.

Bottom line - the war is over, but many organizations and people don't recognize this. We are leaving the Industrial Age behind and have entered the new Information Age. Unfortunately, we will be going through a somewhat chaotic period over the next decade as the changes being made continue to take hold.  It's time to start acknowledging and thinking about embracing the 'Information Age' and the 'Open Way' that will dominate this 21^st century.

I will continue to blog on the Open Revolution. But let me end on this note. For many centuries, our society has been dominated by three major institutions – Government, Business, and Non-Government Organizations.  New technologies, the increasing  pace of innovation, proliferation of overwhelming global challenges, coupled with the use of new information technologies, social media, and the 'Open Way' by the 99% is leading to a major change in how societies are organized. The 99%, are learning to use the new technologies and approach to create and empower the missing fourth institution that will be at the table from now on – the people.  More to come in my next blog.

Looking for your thoughts and input on the Open Revolution.  Please share your ideas and thoughts.