Mike Wishart, chief executive officer at electronics crowdsourcing platform efabless, has issued a call for a move beyond open source software and into the realm of “open innovation.”
“Embedded open source software not only works; most our world runs on it today,” Mike writes in the introduction of an opinion piece published in the EE Times this week. “That said, the real story is open innovation, of which open source licenses are simply one part. Open innovation means looking outside traditional corporate silos to harness the collective knowledge of a global community of developers and using that community to create new and transformative things.”
Mike points to real-world examples of open innovation – open source software, Maker Faires, hackathons, and the like – as a call-to-arms for the world of electronics and hardware, calling for a “connected community of like-minded inventors with complementary skill sets collaborating in a frictionless manner.” This, he explains, will bring the same benefits to the world of the integrated circuit as have been enjoyed by the open-source software community.
“The timing is right for the semiconductor industry to embark on this journey and accelerate the proliferation of community-created IoT solutions,” Mike claims. “Welcome to the world of open innovation.”
Mike’s article can be read in full on the EE Times now.
Gareth Halfacree is a technology journalist and technical author best known for his work on the Raspberry Pi User Guide and an upcoming book covering the BBC’s micro:bit project. A keen open source advocate and RISC-V fan, Gareth is responsible for curating our fortnightly community round-up posts.