Open Source Business Conference

Jean-Pierre Laisne is the chairman of ObjectWeb's board of directors. He speaks to the Open Source Business Conference about his organization, what it does and where it is headed. He outlines some of ObjectWeb's more popular projects, and discusses what, he thinks, it takes to keep an open source community alive and thriving in Europe, and throughout the World.

Charles Macmillan, Open Source Project Officer for the European Commission's Information Society Technologies Unit, gives an overview of IST as a research program, what the commission's software tech unit is doing and what might come next. Europe's software industry is very limited, and IST is therefore working to support the development of more open and competitive software in Europe. From the 2006 Open Source Business Conference,

Linux and open source have a strong momentum and Linux has become the fastest growing operating system for smartphones, and Trolltech's co-founder Eirik Chambe-Eng discusses many of the questions related to this change. Why are more consumer electronics manufacturers adopting Linux? Why does it make sense to run it on your phone? What are the benefits of the open source model, and what are the potential problems or pitfalls of using open source when producing mobile devices?

At Microsoft, 'cooperative competition' is a well known strategy for success. As commercial open source continues to drive changes in the software industry, coopetition - between open source and commercial software companies alike - will be a defining factor in determining further business success and meeting customer needs. Jerry Fishenden explores the principles of coopetition in nature, in gaming, and at Microsoft, in order to make the case for a new software business strategy.

"Fight!" exhorts Professor Lawrence Lessig, as he rallies the open source community in what he calls the war against monopolistic businesses. How is this war affecting the culture of innovation? How do you need to defend your right to innovate? Hear Professor Lessig lay bare with his powerful arguments the stories behind the defining milestones of this war starting with the historic 1976 Sony Betamax judgment, in his keynote talk at the OSBC 2005.

Open source has crossed the chasm and is heading straight for the tornado. This insightful keynote address by Geoffrey Moore proposes a marriage between the capitalist community, which is inherently competitive, and the open source community that supports voluntary collaboration and cooperation. Listen and discover the strategies to make this relationship work.

The next wave of open source developers are looking for the next big challenge and have found it Enterprise-level software, including CRM, ERP and PBX. Despite the naysayers, open source developers have shown that no market is free of their influence. Larry Augustine, CEO of Medsphere Systems points to 4 examples where open source is competing directly with traditional enterprise software companies. [Open Source Business Conference audio from IT Conversations]

The ability to innovate is at the core of every successful and enduring business. Dr. Irving Wladawsky-Berger, head of IBM's e-business on demand initiative, delivers an engaging keynote address at OSBC 2005, on Innovation in an On Demand World. Irving sees innovation happening on many fronts but of particular interest is the innovation that is occurring at the technological, business and societal levels, which is causing a major shift in the way that businesses compete. No longer is everything proprietary or core to the business. To remain competitive the business must embrace innovation at the technological, business and societal levels. [Open Source Business Conference audio from IT Conversations]

R0ml examines four major focus areas within the IT department at AT&T Wireless, and explores reasons why there aren't any credible open source projects around them; whether there should (or should not) be; and what they might look like.

The free and open source software movement is moving, rapidly. If you want to hear where the big guns of the industry want to take it, you can do no better than listening to Jonathan Schwartz, President and COO of Sun Microsystems talk on this in his keynote at the OSBC. He talks about the changing landscape of FOSS, the obstacles its facing and what the industry should be doing to promote The Age of Participation. [Open Source Business Conference audio from IT Conversations]