This document reflects commonly asked questions from citizens and leaders when beginning to think about how to transition from working in closed to open systems. Visit the Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) at http://www.i-open.org

1. 1
The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open)
Open Source Economic Development (OSED) is one form of Open
Economic Networks. OSED is a specific investment model of how you build
these networks. It’s an approach to build strategy maps for open economic
networks geared toward teaching and replicating.
FAQ's about Open Source Economic Development
Q: What is Open Source Economic Development and what does it mean to
do economic development from this kind of approach?
A: Open Source Economic Development is a way of thinking about
leveraging the passion and knowledge of individuals to strengthen social
networks in five areas of economic investment: Brainpower, Innovation,
Education, Dialogue & Inclusion, and Branding Stories. This is
accomplished by adhering to principles of behavior that build trust with one
another. These principles are:
• Everyone is encouraged to participate
• Everyone has something of value to offer
• All participants listen carefully to each other and consider all ideas
and viewpoints
• A positive and constructive atmosphere is maintained
• Everyone understands that discussions are open forums and there is no
right or wrong answer
Copyright 2010 Betsey Merkel and I-Open. Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No
Derivative Works. Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) 4415 Euclid Ave 3rd Fl Cleveland,
Ohio 44103 USA

2. 2
The String Quartet is a collaborative model
we can learn from. The Matangi Quartet at
the 8th Banff International String Quartet
Competition. Photo Credit: Donald Lee
Q: If Open Source Economic Development means anyone can participate
anywhere, anytime, does anyone organize it or is it just chaos or some kind
of leaderless, hierarchy-free self-organization?
A: Different from top down organization invitation-only meetings, Open
Source Economic Development is an inclusive process that requires guided
leadership. The need for innovation in education, for example, is a topic
everyone can relate to. A successful way to establish a process leveraging
individual initiative is to host an Open Space gathering in education. Areas
of interest and new ideas about education will emerge. The next step is for
committed partners to work together collaboratively to design next steps
toward taking action.
Q: Do the thousands of people now in corporate, government, funding, and
civic leadership positions have any role or power in an Open Source model?
A: Yes. Open Source Economic Development discriminates only by those
who have initiative and are known for getting things done. Every individual
has ideas of value. The challenge, regardless of prior experience, is to
practice behaviors that build trust and encourage collaboration, enabling a
free flow of diverse idea exchange. Once a climate of sharing is established,
“group think” can evolve to the next maturation of thought resulting in new
idea innovation.
2004 United Way Clean Up Day, PA
Volunteers from Old Point National Bank and
NASA Cleaning and sorting food, and painting
fences at Salvation Army.
Copyright 2010 Betsey Merkel and I-Open. Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No
Derivative Works. Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) 4415 Euclid Ave 3rd Fl Cleveland,
Ohio 44103 USA

3. 3
Q: Does Open Source Economic Development mean in the end everything is
common property and no one "owns" anything?
We need to be careful not to confuse property ownership with idea
ownership. Innovative thinking is the result of a deep consideration of many
perspectives of a single problem and does not happen in a vacuum. Open
Source Economic Development activity is in service of the public good -
providing opportunity to accelerate individual thinking and mature regional
thinking. Trust is an important component, because it allows contributors to
realize that what they offer will be returned exponentially in the form of
ideas, social capital and professional services. Mutual respect of idea
origination, that no two ideas are alike and the understanding that idea
creation is not finite are important understandings to grasp. This kind of
thinking allows individuals to "let go" of ownership, which impedes idea
development. Everyone benefits cooperatively.
Q: Do people need any new kinds of skills or knowledge or competencies in
order to "do Open Source" and if so which, can they be learned, and how?
Bungee jumping in
Australia.
We need to be
comfortable multi-tasking
on a high level and be
able to "bungee-jump"
from the 10,000-foot level
to rock bottom.
A: We have what we need; we're just out of practice. We need to trust one
another, think in terms of abundance instead of scarcity, practice working
together, use less, appreciate more and take leadership on things that matter.
Acquisition of new and refresh existing competencies is critical in
technology, dialogue and facilitation, project process and networking. We
Copyright 2010 Betsey Merkel and I-Open. Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No
Derivative Works. Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) 4415 Euclid Ave 3rd Fl Cleveland,
Ohio 44103 USA

4. 4
need to be comfortable multi-tasking on a high level and be able to "bungee-
jump" from the 10,000-foot level to rock bottom. By learning from local
leaders and early adopters we can learn, re-up and invest in our region.
Q: Can a region or community do Open Source Economic Development in
an environment where big funders, big business, and big government defines
economic development as investing in commercial, real estate, and hot big-
ticket technology ventures?
A: There are always obstacles in all kinds of sizes, shapes and forms. The
challenge is to innovate far beyond any barriers and maintain the focus on
what is important, always pushing ahead. Martha Layne Collins, Former
Governor of Kentucky says we'll never have enough money and we will
never have enough time. The key is to out perform!
Q: How does I-Open intend to measure its success after 2 years, let's say,
doing Open Source Economic Development?
A: The success will be measured in performance of initiatives, quality of
teamwork, and networks modeling behaviors that build trust and
collaboration and accelerating change to build sustainable regions.
The pit crew for Dale Earnhardt
Jr., 2005 NASCAR race.
We need to build high
performance teams to accelerate
new initiatives.
Start a forum to post discussion, new information and provide comment on
activities related to Open Source Economic Development in your region and
in the world.
(From the I-Open smartWorkspace, 2005. More: http://ow.ly/XONf)
Copyright 2010 Betsey Merkel and I-Open. Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No
Derivative Works. Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) 4415 Euclid Ave 3rd Fl Cleveland,
Ohio 44103 USA