Jim Fruchterman Discusses How Open Source Sparks Innovation and Advances Social Good, on Opensource.com
By Benetech, posted on July 24, 2014Adopting an open source philosophy has proven to be quite effective when furthering technology-for-good, notes online magazine Opensource.com in an interview with Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman.
Fruchterman goes on to describe the open source tools Benetech builds; clarifies why it is important that cybersecurity tools in particular are open; explains how Benetech’s culture of “open” shapes its product development as well as broadly serves its social mission; and reflects on the reasons why the open source ethos is well suited for creating social impact.
“Ultimately,” says Fruchterman, “we believe that open source is more about transparency and innovation than about releasing software. Being transparent leads to the best possible outcomes from our work and helps us further our mission goals. The open source methodology also helps stimulate innovation. It allows us to build and improve upon the knowledge of predecessors, as well as to make knowledge available for future users and developers. We always ask ourselves how we can apply technology in new ways to improve people’s lives, and we believe that the open source model helps spark creativity and more technology-for-good ventures.”