Journal 10, November 1st

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/business/01proto.html?_r=2&ref=technology

Recently businesses have taken the lead of software designers, sharing their ideas for green innovation through open source patents. Through the sharing of green initiatives companies will be able to share what they have discovered while not jeopardizing their positions in the competitive market. Due to the fact that green solutions do not directly tie into a company's business practices there is little risk that sharing these new ideas will hold negative consequences. Also these new methods for maintaining a green and sustainable business can be utilized across all types of industry. Therefore companies can feel free to share their in house technology with other industries without fear of competition. Once this practice of having open patents get started more and more companies will participate as soon as they realize the potential. Soon there will be communities built where businesses can share ideas and track who is using who's ideas. If this practice is accepted companies will be able to take advantage of a free flow of ideas, all meant to create a green society that can be sustained for years to come. There are many incentives for sharing technology for the companies as well. For letting other businesses use their patents companies can collect annual fees making a little extra money for their innovation and generosity. Even though this novel idea has many benefits it does not coincide with the normal manner of patents. Without proper authorization and preparation, participating businesses could be penalized for infringement on patents.

Even though this idea does not follow the traditional way of doing business it is an excellent way for companies to contribute to the advancement of green technology and in the process gain advantages that they never had before. As with the open source movement in software development, collaboration between companies pertaining to green technology is a great way to contribute to the field and help develop new techniques that would have not have been possible any other way. With these new business practices firms can start to interact as the rest of the world already has using modern technology and can start to work together to create a sustainable environment that we can all benefit from.

Reference:
http://sciencecommons.org/projects/greenxchange/