Open Source Industry Australia

by Donna Benjamin on behalf of OSIA, submitted to the National 2020 Summit.

Australia's Open Source Industry is poised for massive growth. Increasing demand for open source skills draws attention to a deficit our education system is not addressing. Misconceptions are the key barrier preventing broad local adoption of, and contribution to, Open Source Software.

Commoditisation of information technology software infrastructure democratises productivity and competition. Open Source Software is levelling the international platform for Information and Communications Technologies [ICT].

Open Source is no longer an emerging technology. It is here now. OSIA believes it's in Australia's best interest to not only adopt Open Source software, but actively contribute to the Open Source economy of ideas and innovation. Each of the 10 areas of focus for the 2020 Summit depend on the new reality of a global interconnected information economy. Google and Wikipedia were built with Open Source Software because it was the only way it could be done. Open Source Software enables us to compete, connect and communicate.

Google has demonstrated the benefits of Open Source for their ICT platforms. Recognising the value of contributing back to the development community they are now investing in and facilitating the next generation of open source software developers with the Summer of Code and Highly Open Participation initiatives.

Australia must show leadership in the development of an ICT platform for Asia and Oceania. We need to invest in ICT education. We must stem the ebb and increase the flow of young people into a culture of participation and contribution to ICT rather than rely on training them to be consumers of technology created by others. The Open Source development process plays to Australia's strengths in software construction and marketing, and bypasses our weaknesses.

Innovation depends on building on what came before by improving it, by making it better. This is why Open Source is so successful. There are no barriers to innovation in the open source ecosphere. There is an open market for improvements, and users are not only welcome, but invited to contribute to improve the product to meet their own needs. If suggested changes are welcomed by others they are added to the whole. If a suggestion only meets a niche, users have the freedom to customise for their own use cases. In this context there is no market too small to be effectively serviced. This is critical for Australia. How often are we told our market is too small to warrant investing in the customisations we need to address local needs? Technology innovation in source code is generating change so fast it's literally changing the nature of the world. Access to that code is critical for all of us. We should harness the power of change by taking part and driving it forward, not taking a back seat.