Open Source as an Exploitation Model

HE institutions regularly engage in software development, and sometimes exploit the result by setting up a company to sell licences. There are also business models that have been demonstrated to successfully work with open source licensing and development methodologies. Sometimes this involves dual licensing, an approach which is only viable when the institution controls all of the intellectual property rights (IPR) in the software. The MySQL database is a good example of dual-licensing in the commercial world, and LAMS is a good example in the academic world. Shared development through the creation of consortia, as in the uPortal project, is another successful model.

Open source exploitation models are relatively new to HE knowledge transfer units. Finding a model that is right for a particular institution will take some effort. It is likely that institutions will want to take advantage of a portfolio of different open source licences for different types of project. Sometimes, for example, only part of a software development will be released as open source, while another part may be exploited using conventional licensing - this will have an impact on the type of licence chosen.

Open source exploitation should be a component in any institution's IPR exploitation policy.

HE institutions also need to consider how their staff participate in ongoing open source development. Institutions that deploy open source software in their infrastructure need to make clear how staff can contribute software code patches, for example, legally to the ongoing development of the software. Such contributions are not merely good open source practice - there are also clear advantages in terms of continuing professional development for staff, and enhancing the reputation of the institution.