#TheOpenAgenda – why the world needs openness | Telefónica Digital Hub

" ... Telefónica itself is embracing open, winding it into our DNA as we transform into a ‘digital telco’. We firmly believe that the transformational possibilities of technology should be open to everyone and open forms our commitment to the future. We believe in open standards, open innovation, and the power of open knowledge. To encourage interoperable products, services, networks and ecosystems, we actively support open and interoperable standards. We are dedicated to forming partnerships and joint ventures to drive the open web, such as our support of Firefox OS, open data, including a partnership with the Open Data Institute, and open innovation, through initiatives such as our Wayra start-up incubator. However, we should be under no illusions of the challenges that remain ahead. The open philosophy, despite the enormous benefits it offers all levels of society, is often fighting against a deeply engrained attitude of resistance to free access of information. The growth of the open web on mobile for instance, is being held back by a return to closed ecoystems and walled gardens. Consumers are being corralled into proprietary systems, only able to access certain content. Content bought through one service is not transferrable when consumers switch and choice is being dramatically curtailed. The situation is further exacerbated with the over-the-top (OTT) services like Skype and Viber. These services, while often available across multiple networks, are closed systems that fly in the face of open communication. This is why we have launched #TheOpenAgenda. We believe the value of open is worth fighting for. The concept is too important to be become merely a commodity, a truism that is devalued by those without a true commitment to the open philosophy. #TheOpenAgenda is a cross-industry project collating the views of leading thinkers from across the open movement. It will dig deep into the meaning of open across three key areas: open web, open data and open innovation. We brought together leading thinkers to discuss the future of the web as part of #TheOpenAgenda project – take a look at this video featuring Chairperson of the Mozilla Foundation Mitchell Baker; W3C CEO Jeff Jaffe and Decoded co-founders Kathryn Parsons and Ali Blackwell ..."