Open Source Strategy Research Articles

Dynamics of Competition on Openness Strategies and Software Maintenance

Software firms are increasingly adopting an open source strategy, allowing them to leverage the effort exerted by the open source community toward improving software quality. In addition to embracing a proprietary or fully open source strategy, several firms choose a partial openness strategy wherein only certain parts of the code are open source while the rest is proprietary. Specifically, when adopting a partial openness strategy, a firm may choose to make the core software code open source while keeping the extension software code proprietary or keep the core proprietary and make the extension open source. When making decisions related to different openness strategies, firms need to take into account the level of effort they are exerting toward the improvement of the quality of software, the level of engagement of the open source community, and pricing. Hence, the decisions related to a firm’s openness strategy are not straightforward. While this is an important question for many firms, it has not been analyzed in the literature. In this research, we attempt to fill this important gap by analyzing different openness strategies in the context of resource allocation for fixing defects. Specifically, using a game-theoretic model, we explore when a firm should make its software fully open source or partially open source and when it should keep it proprietary. Our results show that when the baseline demand for the firm increases with the extent of openness, the firm should either make its software fully open or keep it proprietary and, importantly, should not rely on partial openness. Next, in scenarios where customers are highly sensitive to security risks, the demand loss to efficiency gain ratio has an important role in determining a firm’s optimal openness strategies. These findings provide important insights to firms on how to effectively plan their openness strategies and also establish a basis for future research on the topic of partial openness.

Semi-automatic classification of digital heritage on the Aïoli open source 2D/3D annotation platform via machine learning and deep learning

Today, digital tools represent a privileged means of describing and understanding of cultural heritage. However, existing hybrid methods for semantic annotation on digital models are mostly manual and require considerable human intervention. This may cause data dispersion or data alteration issues, preventing the digital collection of multidisciplinary heritage information in collaborative valorization and conservation projects. Tackling this problem, this work presents three different methods for more automated 2D/3D data annotation, making the most of Machine Learning or Deep Learning and of the collaborative, web-based annotation platform Aïoli. The proposed approaches are designed to assist heritage experts in the hybrid annotation of architectural objects, e.g., to identify building components, degradation patterns, mapping of alterations, materials etc. and to share and access 2D/3D information via the web. The work aims at providing public and private stakeholders in charge of restoration and conservation activities with a set of more automated annotation tools, allowing to: i) preserve data in the transition to different representation types; ii) propagate analytically relevant information via digital models and/or images; iii) share heritage-related data on the web with an open source strategy. The validated workflows sketch the outlines of a dedicated and user-friendly toolbar for semi-automatic annotation, directly integrated into the Aïoli user interface, where automated annotation tools are readily available to the community of heritage professionals to properly support documentation and restoration activities.

Financing Organic Plant Breeding—New Economic Models for Seed as a Commons

Organic seed is vital for organic agriculture. However, organic plant breeding is not keeping pace with the increasing organic production, mainly because of a lack of sufficient financial resources. Therefore, the questions arose: what are the obstacles, and how can they be removed? An analysis of the situation in Europe revealed that royalties from intellectual property rights (IPRs) such as plant variety protection are inappropriate for organic seed. New additional financing strategies were developed based on the concept of seed as a commons, and the attitude of stakeholders in the food value chain towards an open source strategy was assessed. The conclusion is that dealing with seed as a commons is an indispensable feature of organic plant breeding. New financing strategies for this offer promising potential for organic plant breeding and an alternative to IPRs-based funding. It is essential to involve stakeholders along the entire value chain, including food consumers, in financing plant breeding. The successful introduction of a food label “open source and organic” could boost commons-based organic plant breeding financing. Generally, there is no single solution; the different strategies identified are complementary. Their validation requires further practical research and development.

PlanktoScope: Affordable Modular Quantitative Imaging Platform for Citizen Oceanography

The oceans represent 97% of all water on Earth and contain microscopic, drifting life, plankton, which drives global biogeochemical cycles. A major hurdle in assessing marine plankton is the planetary scale of the oceans and the logistical and economic constraints associated with their sampling. This difficulty is reflected in the limited amount of scientifically equipped fleets and affordable equipment. Here we present a modular hardware/software open-source strategy for building a versatile, re-configurable imaging platform - the PlanktoScope - that can be adapted to a number of applications in aquatic biology and ecology. We demonstrate high-throughput quantitative imaging of laboratory and field plankton samples while enabling rapid device reconfiguration to match the evolving needs of the sampler. The presented versions of PlanktoScope are capable of autonomously imaging 1.7 ml per minute with a 2.8 µm/px resolution and can be controlled from any WiFi-enabled device. The PlanktoScope’s small size, ease of use, and low cost - under $1000 in parts - enable its deployment for customizable monitoring of laboratory cultures or natural micro-plankton communities. This also paves the way toward consistent and long-term measurement of plankton diversity by an international fleet of citizen vessels at the planetary scale.

Open-source deep learning-based air-void detection algorithm for concrete microscopic images.

Analysing concrete microscopic images is difficult because of its highly heterogeneous composition and the different scales involved. This article presents an open-source deep learning-based algorithm dedicated to air-void detection in concrete microscopic images. The model, whose strategy is presented alongside concrete compositions information, is built using the Mask R-CNN model. Model performances are then discussed and compared to the manual air-void enhancement technique. Finally, the selected open-source strategy is exposed. Overall, the model shows a good precision (mAP = 0.6452), and the predicted air void percentage agrees with experimental measurements highlighting the model's potential to assess concrete durability in the future.

The Research Software Encyclopedia: A Community Framework to Define Research Software

The Research Software Encyclopedia is a community driven, open source strategy to define the term “research software” in different contexts. It consists of several elements: a base library to manage a database of software, criteria and taxonomy items that can be used to answer questions about the software in the database, and several ways for an interested party to interact. A community database is stored in version control (GitHub), and by way of providing and updating this database, the Research Software Encyclopedia takes a strategy of small contributions over time to grow a valuable resource. Using a community-driven open source approach offers a number of advantages over attempting to derive a single, holistic definition for research software. First, it takes into account the context under which the definition is considered. Second, community and scoped contributions to specific components of the task are easy. Third, it provides a resource that can be extended to other use cases. Finally, this initiative creates a solution that requires no grants or other funding to maintain, increasing its ability to grow, adapt, and evolve over time.

Explaining offenders\u2019 longitudinal product-specific target selection through changes in disposability, availability, and value: an open-source intelligence web-scraping approach

ObjectiveTo address the gap in the literature and using a novel open-source intelligence web-scraping approach, this paper investigates the longitudinal relationships between availability, value, and disposability, and stealing counts of specific makes and models of gaming consoles.MethodsUsing data from Western Australia (2012–2019) and focusing on specific makes/models of gaming consoles, the relationships between product-specific stealing counts, availability, value, and disposability were examined using time series and cross-sectional analyses.ResultsSupport was found for a positive relationship between the changing disposability of specific makes/models of gaming consoles over their lifecycle with corresponding stealing counts, above and beyond changes in availability and value. However, when these attributes were analysed statically, both disposability and value were important.ConclusionsThe results highlight the importance of measuring correlates of ‘hot products’ longitudinally to better understand offenders’ target selection preferences over time—with important implications for theft risk assessment and crime prevention policy and practice. These findings also provide support for the use of similar open-source intelligence web-scraping strategies as a suitable technique for capturing time-specific proxies for product-specific value and disposability.

Moving Koha library catalogue into linked data using the LODRefine

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate connected data through the use of open-source technology. It demonstrates the transformation process from library bibliographic data to linked data, which allows for easy searching across numerous collections of information.Design/methodology/approachIn generating this file, a high-level operating system such as Ubuntu, which is based on the LAMP architecture, is used. It is required to use open-source strategies in building the relevant information. LODRefine is being used to convert all of Koha's bibliographic data into linked data that is now available on the Web. This framework has been conceptualized and formulated based on linked data principles and search algorithms accordingly.FindingsLinked data services have been made publicly available to library users by using a variety of different forms of data. Information may be sought quickly and easily using this interface built on numerous search structures. Aside from that, it also meets the needs of users who use the linked data search mechanism to find information. Through modern scripts and algorithms, it is now possible for library users to easily search the linked data enables services.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates how quickly and easily related data from bibliographic details may be developed and generated using a spreadsheet. The entire procedure culminates in the presence of specialists in the library setting. A further advantage of the SPARQL system is that it allows visitors to group distinct concepts and aspects using independent URIs and URLs instead of the SPARQL endpoint.

Friend or Foe? How to Compete Against Unsustainable Knockoffs with Anti-Knockoff Advertising and Open-Source Strategy

Friend or Foe? How to Compete Against Unsustainable Knockoffs with Anti-Knockoff Advertising and Open-Source Strategy

Watershed Segmentation Region-Based Criteria Applied to Thermographic Imagery Within the Water-Space

The study is focused on the spectral emissivity of non-contact, active, and Non-Destructive Techniques (NDT), ground and aerial, to be implemented in conjunction with histogram equalizations, transform waveforms, and segmentation image analysis following object detection by template matching. Due to Electronic Data interchange (EDi), which mostly consists of volatile and unidentifiable stress agents in the digital environment, the malicious drivers are often under-recognized, i.e. non-IP based networking, that requires an urgent response in order to prevent alteration of the Internet of Things (IoT) supply-chain devices, by downgrading their performances or taking possession of their maneuverability. The research proposes: (1) a set of multi-scalar parametric evaluations, (2) an in-depth theory dissertation, (3) a versatile open-source strategy, and (4) a risk-management implementation concerning maritime cyber security. Due to the limits of research, the author has included a list of references that are susceptible to adaptation to the engaged novel open-source solutions, within the cited optimizations for the Green Build System of the Build Information Model (BIM) techniques. Moreover, because of Unmanned and Infrared systems cost, the work-study implements a licensed aerial dataset for research and a thermal ground camera possessed by the author.

Dynamic Capability and Open-Source Strategy in the Age of Digital Transformation

Today, Industry 4.0 technologies, such as Big Data analytics and mobile technologies, are forcing firms to seek new ways to create and deliver customer value. We argue that the Android project, one of the most successful open-source digital platforms, reflects a new business model in the age of digital transformation. In the Android community, application developers create and sell applications for the Android operating system provided by the open-source firm (Google), and share the profit with Google. Such an open-source strategy forces the open-source firm to give up the profits from selling the operating system to customers. A firm generally chooses an open-source strategy to increase its user network size. Using the concept of creative intensity, or the speed of idea generation, we offer a new explanation regarding the benefits of an open-source strategy in the age of digital transformation. We investigate how to enhance creative intensity and profit on the open-source digital platform. Our model suggests that an open-source strategy effectively manages the diminishing value of ideas and, thus, facilitates the dynamic capability of an open-source firm.

Strategizing with Hardware Rich Open Source Ecosystems

Companies are increasingly adopting open source strategies to develop and exploit complex infrastructures and platforms that combine software, hardware and standard interfaces. Such strategies require the development of a vibrant ecosystem of partners that combines the innovation capabilities of hundreds of companies from different industries. Our aim is to help decision makers assess the benefits and challenges associated with creating or joining such ecosystems. We use a case study approach on six major collaborative ecosystems that enable the development of complex, high cost infrastructures and platforms. We characterize their strategy, governance, and their degree of intellectual property (IP) openness. We offer a three-dimensional framework that helps managers characterize such ecosystems. Although all the ecosystems studied aim at scaling up innovative solutions, their strategy, governance and IP openness vary. An upstream strategy aimed at replacing supplier proprietary design with open substitutes requires a democratic governance and an intellectual property policy that maximize the attractiveness of the ecosystem. A downstream strategy aimed at carving a space in new markets requires an autocratic governance and an intellectual property policy that combine attractiveness and value capture opportunities.

Low-cost and open-source strategies for chemical separations

In recent years, a trend toward utilizing open access resources for laboratory research has begun. Open-source design strategies for scientific hardware rely upon the use of widely available parts, especially those that can be directly printed using additive manufacturing techniques and electronic components that can be connected to low-cost microcontrollers. Open-source software eliminates the need for expensive commercial licenses and provides the opportunity to design programs for specific needs. In this review, the impact of the “open-source movement” within the field of chemical separations is described, primarily through a comprehensive look at research in this area over the past five years. Topics that are covered include general laboratory equipment, sample preparation techniques, separations-based analysis, detection strategies, electronic system control, and software for data processing. Remaining hurdles and possible opportunities for further adoption of open-source approaches in the context of these separations-related topics are also discussed.

Social network analysis of open source software: A review and categorisation

Context: As companies have become large users of Open Source Software , it is important that they feel comfortable in their Open Source strategies. One of the critical differences between Open Source and Proprietary Software is the communication networks . Objective: This paper tries to set a base for understanding how open source teams are structured and how they change. This is vital to understanding Open Source Software Communities. Method: The paper looks into previous research on Social Network Analysis of Open Source Software, using a systematic literature review. Papers were gathered from Scopus, IEEEXplore and ACM Digital Library, and used or discarded based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Research which focuses on the success factors of Open Source Software through Network Analysis is also examined. Results: A subjective categorisation is established for the papers: Structure, Lifecycle and Communication. It was found that the structure of a project has a large bearing on project success, with developers having previously worked together being indicative of project success. Other structure indicators of success are having a small but structured hierarchy, a diverse user and developer base, and project prominence. However, it was found that information on how these structures appear and evolve over time is lacking, and future research into temporal data models to determine project success information is suggested. Conclusions: A categorisation of existing research on Social Network Analysis is provided as a basis for further research. Further work into the lifecycle of OSS projects through Social Network Analysis of temporal project information is suggested.

Role of reciprocity in firms' open source strategies

PurposeInterorganizational reciprocity plays a key role in relationships among software firms and open source communities. This study seeks to illuminate how a firm's open source strategy, characterized by its participation in the open source community, contributes to its financial performance.Design/methodology/approachBased on the norm of reciprocity and social capital theory, the study proposes a model comprising the behavioral antecedents and business results of a firm's symbiotic relationship with the open source community. Data were collected through a survey. Partial least squares-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to assess the results.FindingsA firm's participative behaviors can have three dimensions: technology giving, technology taking and social participation. Technology taking directly impacts financial performance, whereas the effects of technology giving and social participation on financial performance are fully mediated by the firm's symbiotic relationship with the open source community.Practical implicationsManagers can understand how a specific behavior ultimately contributes to a symbiotic relationship or a firm's financial performance and how to flexibly align participation strategies with the business orientation.Originality/valueThe study adds to the open source literature by refining and enriching the conceptual domain of a firm's participative behaviors in open source communities. It also reveals how contrasting behavioral strategies impact a firm's financial performance.

The Strategic Dynamics of Imitation and Diffusion

Imitation and diffusion remain central concerns for scholars from diverse disciplines and backgrounds such as economics, organizational sociology, and strategy (see Lieberman & Asaba, 2006; Strang & Soule, 1998; Young, 2009). This research has predominantly focused on the conditions that enable or deter imitation, and to a lesser extent the performance consequences for imitators versus innovators or early entrants. The findings are mixed on the extent to which imitative efforts harm or benefit the performance of early versus later entrants. Moreover, the recent proliferation of open-source strategies calls into question the established wisdom that imitation necessarily harms the performance of innovators. It may thus be time to employ more sophisticated empirical strategies to uncover what drives the strategic dynamics of imitation and diffusion, and to reinvigorate the debate by focusing on the mechanisms that shape imitative behavior and the ensuing competitive dynamics. This symposium brings together three tightly connected papers by authors from a range of backgrounds and vintages, and two discussants who have shaped the debate, to address several questions informed by contemporary empirical research: (1) How and when can an imitative product harm (or improve) the performance of the original? (2) How does the order in which firms expand their scope affect their performance? Is it the case that early entrants benefit and laggards suffer as a result of the bandwagon effect? Relatedly, (3) even if early-mover advantage and laggard costs are found, are these driven by intrinsic benefits of moving early rather than late, or is this a matter of fit where selection drives results instead? (4) What explains an industry’s low deterrence of imitation, followed by vigorous patenting? Beyond shedding light on a set of complementary questions, this symposium aims to identify important areas for future research on imitation and diffusion by distilling key lessons from this literature, from opening the debate on identification and endogeneity in assessing the impacts of early versus late imitation, to articulating the specific mechanisms that underpin firms’ strategic choices in terms of imitation. Selection in Early Mover and Bandwagon Effects: Assessing US Banks' Scope Expansion Payoff Presenter: Nicola Cetorelli; Federal Reserve Bank of New York Presenter: Michael G Jacobides; London Business School An Unintended Consequence of Imitation: Unpacking How and When an Imitative Product can Harm Presenter: Erdem Yilmaz; Department of Management and Technology, Bocconi U. Presenter: Ivana Naumovska; INSEAD Innovation and Imitation: Design in the Global Tire Industry Presenter: Jung Kwan Kim; Temple U. Presenter: Vivek Tandon; Fox School of Business, Temple U. Presenter: Ram Mudambi; Temple U.

An Ultrasound‐Triggered ROS Sustained Supplier Based on Open Source and Reduce Expenditure Strategy for Colon Cancer Therapy

AbstractThe reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a decisive role in sonodynamic therapy (SDT). However, hypoxic microenvironment of tumors and short lifetime of ROS limit the implementation of SDT. In this work, an ultrasound (US)‐triggered ROS sustained supplier based on open source and reduce expenditure strategy was constructed. The mesoporous titanium dioxide nanoparticles (MTN) were used as carriers and sonosensitizers, to load US‐responsive perfluoropentane (PFP) and bleomycin (BLM), a blocking agent to reduce ROS scavenging. Thereafter, nanoparticles were wrapped by red blood cell membrane (RBCm) with TKD modification (TKD@RMPB). Under US irradiation, MTN disintegrated into small TiO2 nanoparticles to release PFP and BLM. PFP effectively supplied O2 to enhance ROS generation. Furthermore, BLM reduced the activity of SOD enzyme so that ROS clearance would decrease. This dual role contributed ROS explosive accumulation in tumor cells. In vitro results showed the ROS level of TKD@RMPB group was 3.62 times that of MTN group. Compared with MTN, the proportion of DNA damage in TKD@RMPB group increased by 2.23 times. Moreover, in vivo results indicated that TKD@RMPB could significantly reduce pulmonary fibrotic lesions caused by BLM, suggesting that TKD@RMPB realized simultaneous chemotherapy and SDT for HT‐29 colon cancer with high efficiency and low toxicity.

An open source and reduce expenditure ROS generation strategy for chemodynamic/photodynamic synergistic therapy

The therapeutic effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-involved cancer therapies is significantly limited by shortage of oxy-substrates, such as hypoxia in photodynamic therapy (PDT) and insufficient hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in chemodynamic therapy (CDT). Here, we report a H2O2/O2 self-supplying nanoagent, (MSNs@CaO2-ICG)@LA, which consists of manganese silicate (MSN)-supported calcium peroxide (CaO2) and indocyanine green (ICG) with further surface modification of phase-change material lauric acid (LA). Under laser irradiation, ICG simultaneously generates singlet oxygen and emits heat to melt the LA. The exposed CaO2 reacts with water to produce O2 and H2O2 for hypoxia-relieved ICG-mediated PDT and H2O2-supplying MSN-based CDT, acting as an open source strategy for ROS production. Additionally, the MSNs-induced glutathione depletion protects ROS from scavenging, termed reduce expenditure. This open source and reduce expenditure strategy is effective in inhibiting tumor growth both in vitro and in vivo, and significantly improves ROS generation efficiency from multi-level for ROS-involved cancer therapies.

A Study of Patent Open Source Strategies Based on Open Innovation: The Case of Tesla

Most high-tech companies take strict strategies to protect their patents, while traditional patent protection strategies often need to face the challenges such as the slow conversion of patented technology. The patent open source strategy is to free the patent to the user for free and is usually with conditions according to certain rules, such as GNU and GPL contracts, etc. This strategy greatly encourages technology sharing and innovation, and changes the logic of intellectual property protection. At present, the patent open source research in the computer field is relatively common but not yet matured in other high-tech fields. Tesla is a representative of patent open source strategy in the field of non-computer high-tech. In addition to analyze Tesla’s patent open source strategy, this article can also be referenced by other high-tech fields as well as China’s new energy vehicle industry, and provides a reference for formulating long-term development strategies of which.

"Going Rogue"

Abstract This paper explores our collaborative STS and anthropological project with type 1 diabetes (T1D) hardware “hacking” communities, whose work focuses on reverse-engineering and extracting data from medical devices such as insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMS) to create do-it-yourself artificial pancreas systems (APS). Rather than using these devices within their prescriptive and prescribed purposes (surveillance and treatment monitoring), these “hackers” repurpose, reinterpret, and redirect of the possibilities of medical surveillance data in order to reshape their own treatment. Through “deliberate non-compliance” (Scibilia 2017) with cliniciandeveloped treatment guidelines, T1D device hackers deliberatively engage with clinicians’ conceptions and formulations of what constitutes “good treatment” and empower themselves in discussions about the effectiveness of treatment guidelines. Their non-compliance is, however, neither negligence, as implied by the medical category of patients who fail to comply with clinical orders, nor ignorance, but a productive and creative response to their embodied expertise, living with a chronic and potentially deadly condition. Our interlocutors’ explicit connections with the free and open source software principles suggests the formation of a “recursive public” (Kelty 2008) in diabetes research and care practices, from a patient-centered “medical model” to a diverse and divergent patient-led model. The philosophical and ethical underpinnings of the open source and collaborative strategies these patients draw upon radically reshape the principles that drive the commercial health industry and government regulatory structures.