From open standards and software to data, ‘open’ has been a defining word of the internet since its early days. However, most of the digital growth around major platforms has been driven by proprietary software and ‘closed’ systems. Recently, companies such as Microsoft and Google have been shifting towards open-source software more and more.
Over the last few years, additional momentum was created with the USA adopting the open-source approach to cope with lagging behind, mainly, Huawei in the development of 5G networks. As a result, OpenRAN was born, an open-source solution for 5G networks to primarily challenge Huawei. Ericsson and Nokia, two other holders of proprietary solutions, are affected by this shift as well.
In parallel, a similar shift has happened with the design of the open-source chip RISC-V, described as the ‘Linux of the chip world.’
Lastly, there are more and more pushes for open data and interoperable approaches in the battle among tech companies, mainly between Facebook/Meta and Apple.
Regardless of the tactical motivation for more ‘openness’, this trend will strategically contribute to having digital assets as global public goods.
The prediction of ‘open’ is only one of the ten digital governance and diplomacy trends of 2022. You can discover the rest of the predictions at:
https://www.diplomacy.edu/blog/10-digital-diplomacy-and-governance-trends-for-2022/
If you are interested to participate in a forthcoming discussion on ‘open’ and digital governance in 2022 please let me know at [email protected]
