The case for open-sustainability
Sustainability requires cooperation. You have to discard the idea of Adam Smith
economics, which says that it's better for society if everyone is working in their
own self-interest, and move towards the economics of John Nash, which says
we can find a better outcome if we work collectively.
The question about whether it "costs the consumer" implies that sustainability
is like some kind of add-on feature -- like power windows or side-impact air
bags. That's not the right way to think about sustainability at all.
– Tom Seager http://www.core77.com/reactor/01.08_seager.asp
angela.mcclowry@open-sustainability.org
www.open-sustainability.org

open-sustainability: what is it?
 A social media and consulting company that provides solutions for
sustainable development.
 A company and solution approach designed to address key
sustainability requirements: global cooperation, technology
innovation, changes in culture and long-term commitment.
 An approach that applies best practice principles from modern
software development and management consulting to drive
sustainable development in complex organizations.
 An approach based on www.openmethodology.org – a framework
for Enterprise Information Management which provides open
source content, technology and a wealth of lessons learned for
the open–sustainability initiative.
 A business that aims to “do well by doing good” and uses this
model to attract the best and the brightest .
www.open-sustainability.org Framework for Integrated Sustainable Development 2

open-sustainability: based on openmethodology
concepts
 Part of the business model … sustainability must be a
comprehensive competency, not an afterthought
 An open framework … for sharing of common, collaboratively
built standards
 Information-centricity … is crucial to effective sustainability
 Collaborative governance … engagement and participation is
the key to measuring and changing behavior
 Agility … extreme blueprinting approach for strategy, software
best practices learned for implementation
 Free … collaborative technologies and content provided for free to
drive adoption
 Participatory … a chance for individuals to shape a corporate
standard and for companies to contribute to the community
www.open-sustainability.org Framework for Integrated Sustainable Development 3

Approach: FISDev (Framework for Integrated
Sustainable Development) is the common platform
Applications to integrate to other Social search and mashups to
social media sites key sustainability content sites
Social bookmarking and
social search integration
Other
Sustainability
Topics
E-learning FISDev
Community
Custom solutions that build
on open sustainability
“behind the firewall”
MIKE2.0
Free collaborative
technologies provided to
Company A Government C mashup to FISDev
Company B
Open framework for
information management
www.open-sustainability.org Framework for Integrated Sustainable Development 4

Approach: A joint community that provides
information-centric solutions to sustainability
MIKE2.0 FISDev
Method for an Integrated Framework for Integrated
Knowledge Environment Sustainable Development
www.openmethodology.org www.open-sustainability.org
Confluence of information centricity
and sustainability around an open
and consultative framework
www.open-sustainability.org Framework for Integrated Sustainable Development 5

open-sustainability principles: what
drives the approach
Hypothesis Principles
1. A standard framework for bringing together integrated
1. Sustainable development is solutions.
a highly complex, global issue 2. A collaborative environment to enhance cooperation.
that requires: 3. Information-centric techniques to measure complex
inter-dependencies & enable evidence-based decisions.
4. Education must target the full lifecycle of student
2. Sustainability requires a development: early school to further education
major cultural change and 5. Having some open content accelerates uptake of the
therefore education is critical: approach and provide the long-term learning model
6. E-learning provides the best way to quickly roll out
content independent of current curriculums.
1. Sustainability initiatives must benefit business
3. Sustainability must be priorities and be economically beneficial.
instilled into the competencies 2. The approach should comprehensively cover the
of corporations; it cannot be a corporate ecosystem as opposed being standalone .
standalone activity: 3. The approach prepares organizations for emerging
regulations and can provide benefits to early adopters.
www.open-sustainability.org Framework for Integrated Sustainable Development 6

open-sustainability principles: what
drives the approach
Hypothesis Principles
1. Encourages a culture of contribution.
4. An open and collaborative
2. Facilitates transparency in the decision-making process
approach is the key to
for policy development.
delivering a standard for such a
3. Enables a diverse community to share techniques for
complex problem, as it:
addressing a multitude of complex problems.
5. The size and complexity of 1. Open standards that will help guide technology
the problem means there is development and its implementation.
much to be gained for 2. A content sharing model that integrates to a common
technology companies. The framework yet enables companies to protect their IP.
solution approach should 3. A delivery approach that harnesses innovation while
provide: managing the risks of implementing new technologies.
6. The size and complexity of
• Mechanisms to grow the market, making sustainability
the problem means there is
a board-level issue and top business priority.
much to be gained for
• A collaborative model that enables partnering and
consulting firms and system
mechanisms for differentiation and IP protection.
implementers. The solution
• A non-proprietary method to all firms that guides their
approach should provide:
approach and allows contributions from all participants.
www.open-sustainability.org Framework for Integrated Sustainable Development 7

open-sustainability.org: a comprehensive solution
made available through a common framework
Comprehensive Scope as define by the United Nations framework
Balanced Initiatives Solution Framework
Open
Social
Bearable Equitable
Agile Collaborative
Sustainable
Environment Economic
Viable
Information
Centric
www.open-sustainability.org Framework for Integrated Sustainable Development 8

open-sustainability.com: services provided and
revenue model
Business Unit Value Provided How Revenue is Generated
Sustainability strategy and implementation
Consulting based on open, information-centric, agile and Services fees
collaborative principles.
Digital Skills development on a variety of topics and Pay-per-use and contract
Solutions online tools. Primary focus is e-learning. plans
Allows customers to reach a very large
Online Pay per click and sponsored
community with ads targeted to their specific
Advertising links
interests
Paid Leadership roles in open-sustainability.org
Community enable sponsors to better shape the imitative Membership fees
Sponsorship and show thought leadership
Open-sustainability provides a common
Government Government grants ,
framework for reuse and a skills development
Funding extended training, services
platform
www.open-sustainability.org Framework for Integrated Sustainable Development 9

Benefits: the business strategy, education and
skills needed to drive complex change
open-sustainability Consulting open-sustainability E-Learning
 Consulting spend related to  Sustainability requires a major culture
sustainability is increasing rapidly change
 Consulting firms will have a major  The workforce requires new skills and
influence in the sustainability practices competencies for “green jobs”
of corporations and government
 Changing formal education curriculums
 For most consulting firms, their takes time
methodologies are their “code” –
proprietary methods cause problems  There is significant demand for skills
development outside the formal
 No single firm has the answer – various educational system
perspectives will prove to be valuable
 Providing some open content enables
 Success requires co-operation but also a longitudinal approach for long-term
a model where participants can profit, educational development and
differentiate and protect some IP accelerates initial uptake
 open methodology techniques increase  Complex subjects are best taught in an
consulting spend, moving organizations interactive fashion
beyond analysis and into execution
 E-Learning is a robust, scalable
 Open consulting appeals to customers business model
www.open-sustainability.org Framework for Integrated Sustainable Development 10

Projects: examples of open-sustainability
consulting
• Transformational sustainability strategy – developed through extreme blueprinting and roadmapping
techniques.
• Supply chain improvement - architecting green supply chain solutions that focus on improvement
through root-causes analysis of current issues and using information analytics.
• Green business intelligence - defining an integrated solution that enables evidence-based decision
making across a broad set of sustainability dimensions.
• Corporate Responsibility reporting – coordinate external company reporting and related rating indices
on issues in the marketplace, workplace, environment and community following best practice guidelines.
• Life Cycle Assessment – high level information assessment understand the broader impact of an
organizations' product or service, up and down the supply chain.
• Life Cycle Management – using information management best practices to measure and improve energy
efficiency and enable complex lifecycle analysis.
• Carbon dioxide emission reporting – assist companies to develop their Greenhouse Gas inventories
and subsequent voluntary reporting of these emissions in such programs as the Carbon Disclosure Project
and through Carbon Footprints
• Stakeholder engagement – develop and manage community engagement on such issues as new
developments, existing management of sites using social media.
• Sustainability customer connectivity - defining an online channel strategy around sustainability to
drive communications, assess opinions and engage customers.
• Innovation management - applying collaborative technologies and advanced governance techniques to
enable stakeholder engagement and build high performance innovation teams
www.open-sustainability.org Framework for Integrated Sustainable Development 11