TFN: Open S ource and
Innovation
"Th e fu tu re is h e re . It is ju st not w id e l
y
d istrib u te d ye t."
W il
l
iam Gib son
Th e Tal
e nt First Ne tw ork (TFN) is th e
pu b l
ish e r of Th e O pe n Sou rce Bu sine ss
Re port (O SBR ). For th is re ason it is
im portant th at w e de scrib e w h at th e TFN
is ab ou t in th e inau gu ral
issu e of th e
O SBR .
Th is articl
e first de scrib e s th e ne tw ork 's
m ission, l
au nch , and initiative s and th e n
in th e l
ast se ction raise s aw are ne ss th at:
-- in addition to ope n sou rce softw are ,
m any oth e r type s of asse ts are b e ing
de ve l
ope d by ope n sou rce proje cts
w orl
dw ide
-- th ou sands of com panie s and
gove rnm e nt organiz ations pay th e ir
e m pl
oye e s and contractors to
contrib u te to ope n sou rce proje cts
-- th e u se of ope n sou rce asse ts is
pe rvasive across produ ct m ark e ts in
w h ich O ntario com panie s com pe te
-- ope n sou rce asse ts and th e proce sse s
th at produ ce th e m can b e com e
pow e rfu l
com pe titive tool
s for
com panie s to appropriate val
u e co-
cre ate d w ith oth e rs and re du ce th e
advantage s of l
arge com panie s
M ission
Th e TFN e nab l
e s th e transfe r of:
(i) ope n sou rce te ch nol
ogy,
(ii) k now l
e dge ab ou t h ow b u sine sse s can
u se ope n sou rce asse ts and proce sse s to
ge ne rate re ve nu e and re du ce costs, and
(iii) tal
e nte d stu de nts w ith sk il
l
s in th e
com m e rcial
iz ation of ope n sou rce asse ts
from acade m ic institu tions to O ntario's
com panie s
and
ope n
sou rce
com m u nitie s.
Th e TFN b e ne fits from th e active
participation of:
(i) e xe cu tive s of te ch nol
ogy com panie s,
(ii)
profe ssors
and
stu de nts
in
e ngine e ring,
com pu te r
scie nce ,
inform ation te ch nol
ogy, scie nce , and
b u sine ss facu l
tie s,
(iii) dire ctors of ope n sou rce fou ndations,
(iv) l
e ade rs of ope n sou rce proje cts and
ope n sou rce grou ps, and
(v) staff of pu b l
ic organiz ations w h o
su pport
w e al
th
cre ation
th rou gh
innovation.
Lau nch
Th e TFN is a province - w ide proje ct
l
au nch e d w ith th e financial
su pport of
th e O ntario M inistry of Re se arch and
Innovation and Carl
e ton U nive rsity in
Ju l
y 2006.
Pre m ie r D al
ton M cGu inty annou nce d 16
aw ards
for
th e
O ntario
Re se arch
Com m e rcial
iz ation Program
(O RCP)
on
Ju l
y 21, 2006. O f th e 16 aw ards
annou nce d, five w e re to U nive rsity- l
e d
ne tw ork s th at w on b oth com pone nts A
and B fu nding. Th e TFN, a Carl
e ton
U nive rsity l
e d ne tw ork , w on one of th e se
five aw ards.
Initiative s
Th e TFN is organiz e d arou nd fou r
initiative s:
1 Com pany affil
iate s
2 Le ad proje cts
3 Know l
e dge de ve l
opm e nt
4 Know l
e dge disse m ination
Al
l
fou r initiative s de ve l
op th e tal
e nt pool
th at
O ntario
com panie s
ne e d
to
e ffe ctive l
y
com pe te
in
ope n
e nvironm e nts.
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