Open source philosophy for non-software organizations
Stumble It!Government should look to Open Source for civic engagement methods not just for its software.
Demos, an influential ThinkTank, have published a 77-page report (PDF) 'Wide Open - Open source methods and their future potential' by Geoff Mulgan and Tom Steinberg with Omar Salem.
In it they suggest a radical and highly biological/evolutionary approach to how citizens could participate in policy-making by learning from successful methods of the Open Source Software (OSS) movement.
They suggest that we should generalise, learn from and use OSS techniques well beyond the software realm including:
- Experimentation & Evolutionary approach to New Ideas
- Treating Citizens as responsible Adults
- Less emphasis on neutralising Trouble Makers
- Use of the Web as Open Public Spaces
- Open Team Working
These methods could be immensely useful in all organisations, enterprises, networks and teams not just government.
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