The Co-evolution of Innovation: How Open and Closed Systems Together Will Shape the Future of Property Rights

In this talk I will critique the naive use of 'the commons' notion and explain how open source does and does not reflect the logic of the commons. Societies and economies, in fact, are made up of an ever changing mix of open and closed property systems. And so are the production systems that companies use to add value to inputs. My argument rests on the proposition that open and closed systems work together, depend on each other for their vitality, and co-evolve to create a faster and more effective path to innovation. The world of business and technology is today engaged in a huge experiment in optimal allocation, figuring out what different parts of the value creation system ought to be taking place in open and closed systems -- and how these systems relate to each other. The fate of many companies, and the strength of national economies, may depend on how this "experiment" turns out.