The open-source model is a radical exercise in transparency. Credit: Markus Spiske, Creative Commons
Every time you stream your favorite TV show, whether it’s on Netflix or iQiyi, chances are you are firing up some cloud servers somewhere that run on Linux, an open source operating system. If you use a smartphone made by Samsung, Huawei or Xiaomi, it’s running on Android, another open source operating system for mobile devices.
Open source technology already permeates our digital lives, directly or indirectly. It’s also becoming an integral part of the industrial policy of countries seeking technological independence — from India and Israel to the UK and Japan. The most determined among them is China.
China’s accelerated push to become more technologically self-sufficient is likely fueled, in part, by its trade war with the U.S., and the export sanctions the U.S. has used against Huawei, ZTE and other Chinese technology firms. A core theme coming out of China’s most recent Fifth Plenum is scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement, with a
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