- Rahul Sharan
Investments by VA Linux Systems and Red Hat back in 1999 perhaps marked the inception of modern corporate open source projects and since then, there's been a rapid increase in the number of software companies championing the open source model for their projects either in its entirety or certain parts of it.
What has caught the eye is that, the biological scientific community as well as bio-tech companies have endorsed and applied the open source model particularly well. Research communities in the Bio-sciences area were very quick to not only accept the idea of open-Source science but to also identify the tremendous potential open-source science has in accelerating research and development. The Biological Innovation for Open Society (BIOS) established in 2004 is one such exemplary initiative among-st many others which aim to provide open access to various research tools needed by researchers across the globe who may not be able to afford it otherwise.
In the commercial space also, Bio-Tech companies such as the UK based start-up 'Chai-Bio' have successfully incorporated open source models without comprising the proprietary features of their product. Chai-Bio open sourced the software code of their flagship product 'Open-qPCR' on Git-Hub but since they are the only ones having the technical expertise required for building the hardware element of 'Open-qPCR', their USP remained unharmed and the product gained high popularity in many countries.
Even in a highly competitive market space like 'Healthcare' where IP ownership has previously played a major role in determining the success of a company, a number of brave open source initiatives have emerged in this sector such as the 'Open Source Pharma' which advocates for the development of affordable new therapies via open source principles.
The prime motivation behind such projects is the desire to use science and innovation to truly serve the community and change the status quo of how the current Healthcare system has failed to deliver for the masses. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that open source principles will go a long way in discovering the true potential of community contributed Research & Development.
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