Open Source Ecology

Canada’s current approach to developing the tech sector uses billions of dollars in government subsidies—municipal, provincial, federal. The best possible outcome? Homegrown billionaires who embrace far-right causes. The most frequent outcome? Heavily subsidized development of a workforce that acts as a farm team for Silicon Valley, flowing talent southward. Both outcomes feed anti-social tendencies, enshrine enshittification as the end point of entrepreneurship, and ultimately stifle real innovation.

There is another way: an ecology of businesses and non-profits competing and cooperating to develop a commons of Free and Open Source software that actually benefits society!

Commons are already key drivers of our economy, though they are often overlooked. Consider a lake. Fishing boats, sailing tours, beaches, a port, windmills generating clean energy: they all depend on the lake, and have a stake in contributing to its ecological health. If someone starts draining the water or polluting it, everyone’s ability to thrive is threatened. And beyond collectively defending the source of their prosperity, the lake itself becomes the marker of a collective identity.

Codebases can play a similar role; we have all seen it. This open source ecology could be an engine for a commons-based development model that has some key characteristics that depart from the fund-and-forget model.

Anchoring talent in place:
using policy to anchor key developers in a place creates incentives for proximity of other enterprises that use their code, counteracting the river of top talent running downhill to Silicon Valley.

Ethical independence:
Google dropped “don’t be evil” as a principle because the need to maximize profits took over, but non-profits stewardship can empower civic dialogue and engagement in design decisions rooted in the public good.

Non-extraction:
with public and non-profit financing at the center, even for-profit actors will have an incentive to steer away from business models that prioritize profit extraction and expansion at all costs; the pressure to achieve “10x” growth will be lifted.

Cooperation:
within an open source ecology paradigm, success is fueled by collaboration.

Competition:
instead of winner-take-all monopolism, organizations can motivate themselves by competing on things that benefit everyone and the overall ecology: technical prowess, efficiency, favourable workplace culture and customer satisfaction.

The core of an open source ecosystem is publicly-funded developers working on a strategic codebase. For example, a one-time government contribution could establish a trust that funds their contributions. Those developers become a hub of FOSS development that involves interns, collaborators, and businesses built on the codebase in question. Encouraged by access to financing and other light policy incentives, the ideal outcome is an interconnected mix of non-profits, cooperatives and businesses running sustainable businesses that feed civic-minded outcomes. Ultimately, this creates the capacity for software to play a role in addressing key social challenges.

That combination of meaningful work, an engaging community of practice and the opportunity to create new businesses could anchor developer talent locally and even make Montreal an international technological hub of ethically-driven, locally connected cooperative entrepreneurs.

The first step is to establish a common vision. This document aims to open that conversation.

Based on discussion around the Getting our Tech Together report and launch event in 2023, SEIZE and allies are proposing facilitating an inclusive discussion to create a framework for advancing an alternative path for the tech sector in Montreal.

In the short term (1-2 years): Establish a policy foothold for a FOSS/non-extractive ecosystem through a combination of tax credits, procurement policies and advocacy efforts. A lightweight precursor could be connecting worker cooperatives to existing wage subsidies to establish/expand the internship pipeline.
In a medium term (3-5 years): Leverage public resources to build a pilot version of a Codebase Trust, along with key incentives and financing that would fuel the growth of an ecosystem around it.
In a longer term (6-10 years): Work towards expanding the influence of this model within Montreal’s IT sector, fueling replication around other kinds of services, and influencing the values and approach of other corners of the sector.

What could this eventually look like? Here are two hypothetical possibilities to get the discussion going.

The CRM business is expected to be worth $145 billion by 2029. Montreal has a home-grown cooperative that contributes to and builds on CiviCRM. Could public funding for CiviCRM development anchor an open source ecosystem in Montreal?
Municipal, Provincial and Federal governments spend billions per year on IT services. A collective or cooperative that could create a track record meeting some of their needs affordably and reliably using FOSS (especially as a replacement for US contractors) could create an expanding strategic footprint.

This is an ambitious vision. But once chosen, a common direction will generate concrete, achievable goals that will in turn create new horizons of possibility.

Key initial steps include:

Find alignment: identify points of agreement among stakeholders (tech non-profits, worker cooperatives, researchers, unions).
Conduct research: identify factors for success and useful precedents.
A common strategic framework: develop a series of common goals, milestones and shared values.
ID an achievable policy change: set a goal and campaign for it together.

Toward a resilient tech sector serving community needs