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Walled Gardens

There is a nice quote in Wikinomics which I like,  particularly the bit about walled gardens

“What was different? The losers launched web sites, the winners launched vibrant communities. The losers built walled gardens. The winners build public squares. The losers innovated internally. The winners innovated with their users. The losers jealously guarded their data and software interfaces. The winners shared them with everyone.”

The quote is largely referring to new-style on-line business and the importance of engaging users and helping them to establish communities, but it seems to me that this is also very relevant advice for the modern University. Universities make money from Teaching, Research and Technology Transfer. They are usually good at teaching and can turn a profit, because they generally know what they are doing. Research Contracts bring in cash, although less than they might if they got their overheads down. However, most Universities lose money from spin-out and licensing, and this is bad for them, bad for the academics and most importantly, it is very bad for the community in which they live.

Why is this? They build Walled Gardens.


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