Wikinomics
Principles
• Openness
– move toward open platforms
– For example, the LAPM stack powers many internet web sites:
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LINUX operating system
Apache Servers
MySQL database
PHP programming language
– customers, governments and even partners and competitors can now see more
information through the web than ever before
– ocw.mit.edu
Wikinomics
Principles
• Peering
– horizontal organization is appearing on the web called peering
– groups become self-organized and collaborate on usually technical/scientific
projects
• Sharing
– traditionally organizations protect their IPs (Intellectual Properties) through
through patent, copyright and trademark
– can be useful to allow others to be shared often in order to promote peering
• Acting Globally
– massive growth in developing markets and global outsourcing
– Enterprise-level computer (ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning) applications,
mass customization and JIT (just-in-time) business models
Wikinomics
Digital Collaboration and Peering
• Peer Production
– a new way of producing goods and services through the power of mass
collaboration
– in theory, peering relies on self-organizing, egalitarian (equality), communities
of individuals who come together voluntarily to produce a shared outcome
– in reality, it mixes elements of hierarchy and self-organization
– relies on meritocratic principles of organization
(the most skilled and experienced members of the community provide leadership
and help integrate contributions)
Wikinomics
Digital Collaboration and Peering
• Peer Production
– often set up under “general public licenses”
– these open source licenses
• guarantee large numbers of contributors the right to use, share and modify
creative works
• provided that any modifications are shared with the community
– works best under following conditions:
• object of production is information or culture which keeps cost low for contributors
• tasks can be chunked out into small pieces that contributors can work on
independently
• costs of putting the pieces together is low and includes leadership and quality control
Wikinomics
Digital Collaboration and Peering
• Peer Production
– most famous examples are Linux and Wikipedia
– Linux is an operating system that competes with proprietary systems such as
Windows (XP and Vista), Apple’s Mac OS X and UNIX
– Linux runs on computers (ex. IBM servers) and many other devices such as:
• TiVos
• Motorola Razr Cel Phones
• BMW cars
– it was created by Linus Torvalds and then released over the internet
– other programmers, computer scientists and engineers then modified and
improved it
Wikinomics
Digital Collaboration and Peering
• Peer Production
– Wikipedia
– built on software called wiki (Hawaiian for quick)
– thousands of web users volunteer their time and knowledge to help fulfill the
community’s goal of providing a high quality encyclopedia in a number of
languages
– sometimes there are problems with fact-checking which have led to lawsuits
– however, comparisons between Wikipedia and (print) Encyclopedia Britannica
have shown little difference in error rates
– the advantage of Wikipedia is that errors can be corrected immediately
Wikinomics
Digital Collaboration and Peering
• Peer Production Advantages
– Harnesses External Talent
– companies cannot keep up with the speed of technical and scientific change by
using internal staff only
– peering allows instant outsourcing of knowledge-based talent
– talented peers can use successes and recognition towards better opportunities
– Keeping up with the Users
– Microsoft has had a near monopoly on the browser market since it beat Netscape
in the browser wars
– now sites are often viewed with the open-source browser Mozilla Firefox
– it now has 10-20% of the browser market
– users can create new plug-ins (customized extensions) to share
• Google FireFox Extensions (also see Adobe Exchange)
– openness also extends to transparency
Wikinomics
Digital Collaboration and Peering
• Peer Production Advantages
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Boost Demand for Complimentary offerings
peer produced offerings create need for additional products
Servers that run Linux
Wikipedia branded books
– Reduced costs
– IBM collaborates with the Linux community to refine the Linux OS
– saved millions of dollars in costs associated with creating a new OS
Wikinomics
Digital Collaboration and Peering
• Wikis
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google the phrase free wikis
two main players in the wiki marketplace are wikidot and wikispaces
today we’re going to look at wikispaces
go to comp1113.wikispaces.com
edit the posting by adding a brief hello message that includes your name
sign up for this service and set up a personal wiki site with yourname.wikispaces.com
add a welcome message to your page
– with a neighbour or two, explore the options available for your wiki
– What are the three levels of access available for collaborating on this site?
Wikinomics
Digital Collaboration and Peering
• Collaborative Workspaces
– Google the phrase Google Documents
– Watch the video
– What is the main problem that Google Docs is trying to solve?
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Work in groups of three and sit near each other.
Have one person sign up (or use an existing Google login)
invite your two other group members
Create and upload a collaborative Word document
Create and upload a collaborative Excel spreadsheet
Have all three group members contribute to these documents
For use with Strategic Electronic Marketing:
Managing E-Business, 2e
Copyright 2003 South-Western College Publishing
Chapter 1 Slide: 10