Open source and open innovation are good for business by allowing freedom and functionality. Freedom means the ability to explore, experiment, and choose the best technology and business models without artificial limits. Functionality means technical quality, features, and design that provide tangible business benefits. An open source approach balances products that are standard and cost-efficient with services that uniquely create value. This startup-like approach leverages open innovation, open source development, and fair business models to efficiently co-create value through design thinking and an ambidextrous organization.

1. Freedom & Functionality
A Startup Approach to Open Source & Innovation for Business Value

2. The next 30 minutes or so will be a shared journey with Metatavu.
We’ll explore why open source and open innovation matter and are good for business.
Beware, the definition of a startup is utilized in a bit creative manner.
We’re going to delve into the interfaces of value co-creation, agile, modern and future-proof organizations,
open source-based business models, and our value system.
1 // setting the stage
2 // freedom & functionality
3 // startup approach to open source and innovation

3. I’m on a mission to explore and co-
create value with software, design,
and data.
I believe in magic when people
and technology work together.
• Chief Business Development Officer, Metatavu
• Research manager in digital economy
• Software architect / developer / consultant
• Chairperson in COSS, and other board positions e.g. Open Knowledge
Finland
• M.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration (Information System
Sciences) & B.Eng. in Software Engineering

4. Metatavu – a startup-like company.
Founded in
2016
20 employees
Turnover (2022) approx. 1 400 000 €
Growth since last year 55%
Exceptional customer happiness
NPS 89
The average in software business is just 44. We’re different.
Top-10
Place to work

5. We’re an agile software
development, design, and
consultancy company.
We provide services for growth,
productivity and cost-efficiency.
In practice, we design and develop high quality business-
driven digital solutions that co-create value. We help to
understand how digital technology can be utilized to achieve
business goals and make people happy and productive.
online services | mobile apps | eCommerce | production
management systems | warehousing | user experience |
accessibility | integrations | automation | data | embedded
software | industrial IoT | IoT | intelligent technologies
Digital business
consultancy
Managed
services
Agile software
development
Service design
and user
experiences

6. We believe
software business
should be fair.

7. Freedom & Functionality

8. Freedom
Freeasinspeech,notreallyasinbeer.
Wedon’tfeelopensourceisareligion.
Butitdefinitelyincludessomeideology
evenintherealworld.
Andit’sgoodforbusiness.
Photo from https://hackaday.com/2016/01/13/stallmans-one-mistake/

9. Capitalism meets and needs idealism
For us, freedom means
• Ability to explore and experiment
• Having the best technology for each need
• Business models as we like and believe is the best
• Opening up the development and innovation models
• Unfair advantage over our competitors
For our customers, freedom means
• Choosing the best partner based on the value expectations
• Choosing what to pay for and why
• Decision-making power
• Benefit from the ecosystems
• Lack of artificial locks
Let’s not get into the laissez-faire capitalism.
While we need the freedom to be able to, we need principles and even some regulation. Now is not the time for robber barons
of the 1800s. However, freedom is the ability to do good business without having artificial limits.
And by good business, we mean fair win-win business.

10. By functionality we mean how it works,
looks and feels like.
It’s technical quality, features, and design.
We’re living in and between two worlds
1) Products that are standard, stable, and cost-efficient
2) Services that are unique and provide best possible value creation and capture possibilities
With open source approach we can balance them both and succeed in doing so.
It means tangible business benefits like cost-efficiency, accelerated development and delivery, technical quality, tailored user experiences,
brand benefits, no compromise on business processes and needs, transparency, decision-making power, and whatnot that translates into
business advantage.

11. Some theory, definitions,
and background

12. The three aspects of open source
1. Development model
2.Licensing model
3.Business model
We want to utilize very pragmatic approach to each of the aspects. Let’s not be fanatics.

13. Given enough eyeballs,
all bugs are shallow.
Linus’s Law

14. Open innovation as a new paradigm for global collaborations in health - Scientific Figure on
ResearchGate.
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Networked-open-innovation-In-contrast-to-classic-closed-
innovation-whereby-an_fig1_256423764

15. Open
innovation
as a startup
approach
Let’s consider Metatavu.
We’re a small industry agnostic software
development, design, and consultancy company.
To be able to do good business, we need
• Market and user understanding
• Problem-solution validation
• Domain insights
• Access to a multitude of technologies
• Lightweight and flexible model to develop our capabilities
• Business models for value co-creation
• Ecosystem alignment

16. An ambidextrous organization is one that is adept at balancing and managing explorative innovations—pursuing new, breakthrough
ideas and opportunities, with exploitative innovations—refining and optimizing existing products, services, and operations, to maximize
current and future success and adaptability in a dynamic environment.
1) Exploitative mode seeks to capture value, optimize, manage
risks, and be profitable in short term.
2) Explorative mode looks ahead, take risks, disrupt the markets,
experiment, adapt, and seek to co-create value.
Ambidextrous organization

17. Open source
+ design thinking
= great success!
It goes back to the freedom aspect.
The freedom to explore, emphasize, and co-create value through
design and interaction.
It’s based on the ideas of both open source and open innovation but
introducing user-centric design and humanism.
For example, take a look at the
Open Practice Library, published by Red Hat
https:/
/openpracticelibrary.com/

18. Business and
value co-creation

19. Our open-based
business model
1. Open innovation-based design thinking
• Enable two-way knowledge flows
• Strong buy-in
• Business and user-driven
2. Open source based development
• Open source for cost-efficiency and ecosystems
• Tailored user experiences and business logic
3. Fair business model
• Shared ownership model
• Lack of techno-economic locks
• Continuous cashflow and value co-creation
through development and managed services

20. Leanstartup
Pivot(learn)whenneeded
Openanddistributedinnovation
Beingmorethanjustasoftwarecompany
Ambidextrousorganization
Opensourcemakesitpossible.
Buthavealittleconscience.Giveback,contribute.
Co-createvaluetobeabletocapturesome.
Rememberthebalance.
Our startup
approach

21. Future-proofing
A future-proof company is designed to adapt and thrive amid ongoing technological, economic, and societal changes, leveraging
continuous innovation, sustainable practices, and proactive management to ensure long-term relevance and success in a dynamically
evolving business ecosystem.
With that (Chat GPTwritten) monstrosity being said, note the similarity with the open-based startup business approach?
Just don’t neglect culture, sustainability (in terms of business and society), and finances.

22. How to win?
I hope it all seems to come together as an obvious and winning formula.
But there is still a lot to prove for Metatavu. We can do it.
Based on some academic sophistry
All digital technologies are convergent, combinatory, and generative.
Open source is technological enabler.
Open innovation is a social enabler.
Ambidextrous company is organizational enabler.
Design thinking and startup-like approach ties it together.

23. How about dem drawbacks?
True. It’s not only all moonlight and roses.
• Switching cost
• Cashflow doesn’t come from licenses – but from where? What to monetize?
• No IPR protection in traditional sense
• Compliance requirements
• Everything is open – public even?
• Who manages quality, security, and maturity? There are different kinds of open source stuff out there.
• It takes time and effort to interact with the community and contribute – but it’s worth it.
• In our case: initial costs are high, lifetime costs relatively low.
However, there has already been a change of attitude – open source is not of lower quality, inferior, or less attractive

24. So what?

25. Key takeaways
/
/ 1 Strategic innovation for value co-creation
Leveraging open innovation accelerates the convergence and combination of diverse ideas, fostering speed and value co-creation, while the technical benefits of
open source, exemplified by Linus' law, ensure high-quality, transparent, and secure solutions. This approach enables the ability to build, expand, and modify,
propelling continual improvement and adaptability.
/
/ 2 Cost-efficiency and design for competitive advantage
The open-source approach offers significant cost benefits to both providers and customers, driving fairness in the business ecosystem. It also enhances branding
and market reach, allowing businesses to establish trust, make empowered decisions, and explorevaried cashflow options, without compromising on profitability.
/
/ 3 Change the rules while controlling the game
Effective risk management strategies address potential issues like licenses and vendor lock-in, allowing companies to attract top talents and create a uniquevalue
proposition. This, in turn, leads to achieving competitive advantage by changing the traditional rules of the game and encouraging exploration in open-based
business models.

26. Ask me anything
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