Microsoft, Open Data, And The Spread Of Information – Seeking Alpha

Readers of my posts know the emphasis I give to the spread of information. To me, information spreads, has always spread, and will continue to spread throughout the world.

Governments, businesses, and others may try to stop this flow, but history shows that efforts to restrain the flow of information always fail over time. The efforts may slow down the spread of information, but are never able to completely stop it.

There are others that realize the value of information and realize the value of information being widely available so that it can be used to help the humans throughout the world to create, innovate, and raise the world to new, higher standards.

In order to achieve a greater spread of information, there has been created something called the "open data" movement, which involves making data available to be shared and reused by others in much the same way that open source software has transformed the way some computer code is produced.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a leading member of this movement. Sure, there are monetary benefits to Microsoft for taking such a position, but there are many more for all of us should the effort succeed.

This effort, to me, is a sign, not only of Microsoft's strength and confidence, but another example of the leadership the company's CEO, Satya Nadella, who has a vision beyond just Microsoft, one that encompasses the future of information technology.

This is the kind of leadership that investors should want to be a part of, for the long run.

Why should investors be behind such efforts? Well, constraining information may work for an organization in the short run as they might garner "monopoly profits". However, over time, information cannot be constrained and economies and businesses and investors gain more benefit within an environment that is sharing information where all can profit from the rising tide.

In my own experience working with start ups and young companies, I found that letting information flow was a much better model than trying to keep everything a company did a secret.

That is, when I began working in this space, young entrepreneurs wanted to hold on to information, afraid that letting secrets out would work against them.

Somehow, the secrets got out anyway. And, the young companies found out that the secret to their success was to keep innovating and not worry about the secrets of the past.

Furthermore, the more open environment created an atmosphere producing greater innovation and along with rising performance. An open environment seemed to create a positive-sum game for the industry where there were more rewards that could be shared from the growth of the industry.

On Tuesday, Microsoft threw its weight fully behind the open data movement.

Richard Waters, writing in the Financial Times, indicated that Microsoft:

would collaborate with other organizations on opening some of its own data for wider use, while creating standardized tools and legal frameworks to make it easier for others to follow suit.

Brad Smith, Microsofts president, said greater sharing of data was needed to counter the growing influence of big companies that are amassing a large share of the data collected over the internet. He added that the stakes were raised by the latest artificial intelligence technology, which relies on large amounts of data to train smart algorithms, with the US and China in the lead. We see increasingly a looming data divide.

Microsoft had moved earlier to get this effort started. In September 2018, Adobe, Microsoft, and SAP stated that they were joining forces to empower their mutual customers with the Open Data Initiative. The initiative would operate based on the following principles:

Using these as guidelines the collation aims to eliminate data silos and enable a single view of the customer, helping companies to better govern their data and support privacy and security initiatives." T

Microsoft, in its current announcement, makes it very clear that it will benefit from the opening up of data sources.

Some Microsoft operations like the LinkedIn professional networking site and the Bing search engine, rely on collecting data. But, the major benefit would come from the fact that it provides computing platforms for others, and these customers would experience a substantial benefit from having access to more data.

The primary reason for this is that the spreading of the information would allow countries and companies that dont have as great an access to data wont be left behind. Hence, Microsoft platforms would be busier. But, the public interest would also be served.

Microsoft said it would collaborate with outside organizations on 20 open data projects by the end of 2022. Furthermore, Jennifer Yokoyama, Microsofts chief IP counsel, said the company was trying to develop a live repository of best practices and resources that could be used by other companies that want to open up their data, as well as proof of concept initiatives to demonstrate how we can do open data better to really solve key societal challenges.

Microsoft appears to be getting a lot of support for this initiative, both from non-profit organizations as well as for-profit ones. This is testament to the leadership that Microsoft and Mr. Nadella are providing.

People, I believe, have a lot to gain from seeing this movement achieve success. As mentioned earlier, this is not a zero-sum game, but one in which benefits can spread among many. History shows that prosperity follows the spread and sharing of information. The current situation will be no different.

History also shows that the businesses that benefit most from the spread of information are those that continue to innovate, that dont hold back, that continually reach for the new and the better.

To me, Microsoft is leading the way. It is not afraid to "open up" and share because it knows that it will continue to be a part of the cutting edge of the innovation curve. As mentioned above, this is the only way to continue to prosper.

Microsoft will continue to prosper.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Microsoft, Open Data, And The Spread Of Information - Seeking Alpha