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Building a Successful Technological Ecosystem Maurizio De Cecco, Minefi-DGI France.

Digital Ecosystem Workshop, 18 May 2005“Towards a network of digital ecosystems:

which technology, which research and which instruments ?”

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What is a Technological Ecosystem

A Set of TechnologiesA Set of StandardsA Set of ConventionsA Set of Best PracticesA Set of Communities Using the Above

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How to Build a Successfully Technological Ecosystem

Create ConsensusGet the industrial community to approve the goals

Get MindshareGet the industrial community to share the goals

Build a Commodity InfrastructureGet the industrial community to adopt it

Target Perennity Assure the industrial community about the future

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The Two Solutions

Are You Strong Enough: Build a MonopolyIBM in the 70sMicrosoft today

You Are Not ? Play the Industrial Community Game

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Create Consensus:

Play the Social GameYou are part of a complex reality

Respect the Existing Technological EcosystemsIntegrate in the current schools of thought

Play the Open Standard GameDon't close your doors

Give as Well as ReceiveIt is a bidirectional game.

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Getting Mindshare

Integrate with Existing InfrastructuresInfrastructure bring communities

Show a Clear Added ValueGive reasons to join

Leverage Existing CommunitiesTarget communities, not single users..

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Build a Commodity Infrastructure

Being PervasiveBe StandardLow Cost

Competitive entry pointAvailable Knowledge and competences

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Target Perennity

Give Up ControlShare the strategic power

Decentralise DevelopmentDon't be the only cat in town

Use The Community ResourcesCommunity of developers, not (only) users

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The Free/Libre Open Source Way

A Strategy to Build Technological EcosystemsGNU/LinuxEclipseApache OpenOffice

Adopted by Many Small and Big PlayersIBMSun Sgi....

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Create Consensus in the Open Source Community

Be a Credible ActorBe Open

Culturally, technologically, organisationallyFully Embrace the Open Source Community Methodology

Be a community yourselfContribute to OS Projects

Being able to giveLeverage Existing Projects

Being able to receive (avoid NIH).

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Get Mindshare in the Open Source Community

Build a CommunityIntegrate key projects, Apache, Eclipse, and so on.Show a clear added value to those projects,

At their rulesLook at organized communities

Apache, Eclipse, ObjectWeb, etc

Building an OS community needs a significant effortUploading code to sourceforge is not enough.

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Build a commodity Open Source infrastructure

Being PervasiveTarget large distribution communities

• Linux distributions• Apache, Jboss, ObjectWeb• Eclipse

Be Standard: You Are Not Smarter Than the Community

Standard protocolsStandard build and methodologiesStandard code.

Low CostUse F/LOSS licensing for the commodity part.Work on the community knowledge management side.

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Target Perennity for an Open Source Infrastructure

Build or Integrate an Organized CommunityShare the Cost of Community AwarenessInvolve the Community in the Strategic and Development ActivityDo this Soon in the Project Lifecycle.

Communities are not code dust bin.