Open source moves into the mainstream

It’s been great to see the idea of ‘open source’ gain ground. Although the nerd in me will always delight at platforms like Arduino and Ubuntu, it’s how the idea and it’s principles moves into the mainstream that’s really instructive.

There are the literal translations from sites like My Starbucks Idea to the more abstract shared ownership services like the Paris Velib and Zip car. And data is forming the basis of a new wave of services to hit our (touch) screens – services like Waze which are wholly driven by user contribution and mysociety.org which is making formally hidden data available to the public.

But where it gets really interesting is where the principles behind open source are applied to a brand. Currently this is most visible in the runaway success of App Stores – where the brands have provided the platform on which users can build their own services and the channels to sell them through. All of a sudden our experience of a brand has shifted from being defined solely by that brands’ outputs to being defined by the shared output of that brand and it’s consumers (prosumers?).

So what? Well what if you could ‘open source’ your HR department? What if the hiring processes was an opportunity for people to design their job roles? What if your job description was an opportunity for improvisation rather than a script? The best experiences of brands and services come through people who enjoy and are engaged with their role –  people who are able to put themselves into the company they work for, rather than having to conform a template.

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