Aussie business can learn from Linux: IBM chief

Australia's future economic prosperity will depend on it embracing the principles of community-driven technologies such as Linux and Second Life, according to Glen Boreham.

Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra, IBM Australia's CEO acknowledged that Big Blue's decision to back the open source operating system had proven more effective than earlier strategies centred around the development of its own technologies.

"There was a time when IBM would never have collaborated externally on software development like this," he said. "With us contributing only a fraction of its full cost, global collaboration has given us an extraordinary product. To be frank about this, the network came up with innovations IBM alone wouldn't have considered."

Such development by communities of common interest was increasingly influencing the employment choices which individuals made, Boreham suggested.

"Many of them are beginning to figure out that, like the open source community, they might not need to be part of a traditional company to be successful."

In an interview with ZDNet Australia, Boreham acknowledged that despite that shift, part of the reason for Linux's acceptance by business users was the fact that the technology had received backing from large, traditional companies like IBM.

However, the network effect outweighed the importance of such corporate contributions, he suggested, arguing that IBM's contributions towards Linux development, while considerable, were only around seven percent of the total invested in development hours on the OS.

Much of IBM's annual local research budget of AU$50 million is dedicated to Linux and other open source projects.

The company's Canberra lab has recently been working on the implementation of Linux and related technologies on the Cell processor used in Sony's PS3.

Online communities such as Second Life were also proving of increasing relevance to large businesses, especially retailers, Boreham noted. "It's generated interest from a lot of heavy-duty industries," he said.

Those technologies would also influence the future of work, he said. "In an online game, tens of thousands of people who have no previous relationship come together for a common purpose, play by the same rules and then disband. And that's exactly what happens when a globally integrated company pulls together a project team."

Boreham declined to comment on IBM's bid to provide the technology for the government's Access Card scheme, but said that such initiatives were important in improving efficiency.

He also joined the chorus of Australian business leaders arguing for increased spending on broadband infrastructure, though he declined to take sides on whether Telstra (itself a major IBM client) should succeed in its push for reduced regulations.

"We are keen to see increased investment in knowledge infrastructure and in broadband. However, that happens to come about, we're supportive. My fear about broadband is that it's really hard to visualise the impact if it's not there."

Angus Kidman travelled to Canberra as a guest of IBM.