Government support of open source still falling short

American and European governments are hailing open source innovation, but failing to act aggressively on patent reform

Two news items over the last week signalled to me that the benefits of open source, open data, and other artifacts of the meshed Internet society are making it through to policy makers. A new section of the White House website and a speech by a European Commission political prove that progress is under way. But when it comes to legal support, both stop short of advocating real open innovation...

Meanwhile, I attended a conference in Brussels at which Neelie Kroes, a senior vice president of the European Commission, announced her plans to earmark 5 percent -- maybe more -- of the Commission's budget for open and innovative solutions from small and medium-size businesses while also seeking ways to stimulate more open innovation. As if anticipating her move, the French government signalled plans to promote open source adoption and allocate the money saved on licenses for investment in open technology...

These moves on both sides of the Atlantic reflect a maturing understanding of the importance of open source and open innovation. The most important aspect of open source -- as well as open data, open hardware, and open access to research -- is not to save money , but rather to empower innovation by removing the need to ask permission to build on the innovations and discoveries of others. When this happens, innovators gain a new flexibility and a new power. Open source provides the steps making it easy to climb on the shoulders of giants.

These steps toward openness won't be enough, though. The liberating effect of not needing to ask for permission to innovate also explains why the lumbering, out-of-date patent system is such an obstacle to open innovation...